Without Our Love
by gabyellaaaa
Summary: Riley Matthew's whole world starts to change when she finds herself in Texas with Josh, Maya, Farkle and Lucas. A lot can happen in Texas, a lot can happen in one day. But things slowly start to take the wrong turn, as Riley and the gang face something they never thought they would. Can they overcome this obstacle and forgive each other? Or will this tear their friendships apart?
1. Chapter 1

Without Our Love

Riley Matthew's whole world starts to change when she finds herself in Texas with Josh, Maya, Farkle and Lucas. A lot can happen in Texas, heck a lot can happen in **one day.** But things slowly start to take the wrong turn, as Riley and the gang face something they never thought they would. Can they overcome this obstacle and forgive each other? Or will this tear their friendships apart?

Chapter One: Texas

Riley's POV:

Everything is bigger in Texas isn't it? I thought to myself as our plane landed in Austin, Texas. That's right. Farkle, Lucas, Josh, Maya and I were in Texas for the summer. Next year, we'll be seniors. Well except for Josh. He's three years older than us. "Alright, were here." Lucas says as he takes off his seatbelt. "I can't wait for you guys to meet my family." He said with the biggest smile on his face. "We can't wait to meet your family either." I said. Lucas and I have had an unofficial thing since the 7th grade. I thought we would've become a thing by now but we haven't. We may have had some ups and downs and there was some moments where I thought I was wasting my time. But after semiformal, I realized that it was best if we stayed friends. Our friendship was too important to me and I didn't want to lose him.

As soon as we got off the plane, we all inhaled in that Texas air. "Oh I've missed this place." Lucas said as we walked to get our luggage. "It smells…interesting." I said. "You'll get used to it." Lucas said as he smiled at me. Once we met up with Lucas's grandma, we grabbed our luggage and left to his ranch. Texas was different from New York. The streets weren't as busy, there was open roads. But when we drove through a little town, I was amazed. There was all of these little shops and a diner. I took a wild guess and thought of it as the towns hot spot. Everyone looked so friendly and full of life.

After we passed through the town, we drove into the country side. Open grassland, flower fields, so many trees and wild life. Then we pulled up into Lucas's ranch. It was beautiful. The house looked more like a mansion, it was ivory white all over, with a beautiful brown fountain in the front of it. Behind the house was a barn, and a horse stable. I saw a white horse as I got out of the car and it reminded me of the one we rode on during the eighth grade election. "So what do you guys think?" Lucas asked. "It's so beautiful." I said. Josh and Maya agreed.

Maya's POV:

I still couldn't believe that my friends convinced me to come to Texas with them. I didn't think I would ever come here. But when I heard that Josh was coming, I quickly changed my mind. "Would you stop touching me?" Josh asked. "Oh, you know you secretly like it!" I teased. "Maya, we're three years apart." Josh said. "I know you say that all the time, but like I said I'm in in for the long game." I said as I took my luggage and walked cheerfully into the house. Josh blushed and followed along.

Farkle's POV:

" _Oh Farkle, you're so adorable." Smackle said as she patted my head. "No, you're adorable." I said with a sly smile. "Farkle…Farkle…_ FARKLE!" Lucas yelled as he woke me up. I jumped. "Welcome to Texas, buddy." He said with a chuckle. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked. "As soon as we got into the car, my friend." He said. I got out of the car and Lucas helped me take my luggage inside the house. Once we got in, Lucas's dad came downstairs and greeted us. "Lucas! There's my boy!" His dad said as he gave him a hug. Lucas dad had greyish hair, he was wearing a plaid shirt, with a brown belt, denim jeans. Your typical Texas dad look. Cowboy boots but he didn't have a beer belly. He was very fit for someone his age. Now I see where Lucas got his good looks from. Why was I thinking like this? I have a girlfriend.

Riley's POV:

Lucas's dad took a step towards me and smiled, "You must be the famous Riley." He said as he gave me a bear hug. "Why, yes I am. But I didn't know I was famous." I said with a laugh. "But you are, Lucas talks about you non-stop every time we talk." He said. I looked over at Lucas and his face turned red. "Dad." He said as he gave him a look. His dad shook it off and walked over to Maya. "And you must be the scary blonde my son talks about." He said. Maya gave Lucas a death glare. "I'm a scary blonde to you?" she asked. "On some days." He said with hesitation. "It's nice to finally meet Ranger Rick's dad." Maya said as she shook his hand. "And you must be her boyfriend?" he asked Josh. A smile spread across Maya's face. "Yes he is." She said as she linked her arms with his and rested her head on his shoulder. "Wrong." Josh said as he released Maya from him. "I'm Riley's Uncle Josh." He said as he stuck out his hand. "Last but not least, you must be the super genius." His dad said as he stuck his hand out. "Farkle Minkus at your service, sir." Farkle said as he pretended to tip his hat.

After we all greeted his dad, we all went up the staircase to find our guest room. I opened the door to mine, and I was in awe. The walls were white, but there was beautiful paintings on them. There was a big clear window that reminded me of the bay window. There was beautiful light pink curtains that draped down. Then I looked over at the queen size bed, with soft ivory white bed spread and a beautiful night stand next to it, with a lamp on top. Then I walked over to the closet and it was very small yet antique at the same time. I loved it. I loved everything about this room. I had the perfect view of field. I noticed there was a trail and that led to the woods. It probably led to the lake I saw on the way here. I couldn't wait to explore Texas.

"Hey," Lucas said as he knocked on my door. "Hey, you're settled already?" I asked as I put my clothes in the drawers. "A little…" he said with a smile. "Need help unpacking?" he asked as he walked into my room. "No, I think I got it…" I said. "Okay, well when you're done. Meet me out back by the stables. There's something I want to show you." he said as he put his hand on my back and walked out. I was glad that Lucas wanted to spend some time alone together, but the thing that still bugged me was Maya and Lucas. But I shook it off and continued to unpack.

After I finished unpacking, I changed into a red plaid shirt, with denim jeans, a brown belt and brown cowboy boots. I then walked out and met Lucas by the stables. "Hey," I said as I walked up to him. Lucas examined me for a minute. "Wow, city girl goes country." He teased. "Very funny, so what did you want to show me?" I asked. Lucas took my hand and led me into the stables. He put a cowboy hat on me and took one of the horses out. "I thought we go horseback riding. What do you think?" he asked. "I think we definitely should." I said. Lucas helped me up on the horse and he got onto the other horse. "I'm a little afraid being on this by myself." I said as the horse started to move. "Don't worry, I'll be right beside you." he said as he followed along next to me. We rode slowly out of the stables and out onto one of the trails. Lucas took his right hand and grabbed onto my hand. "You're already a pro, riding a horse with one hand." He said as he held onto my hand. The woods was breath taking but it was a little creepy how they draped over each other. "Why are you holding my hand?" I asked. "To make it less scary for you." he said. "I think I got it." I said as I let go of his hand. He gave me a confused look but quickly got over it.

As we were riding the horses, we went up an isolated area where we could see a view of the whole ranch and a small part of the other lands. "Wow, this view is amazing." I said. "It sure is." Lucas said as he kept his eyes on me. "So did you come up here a lot when you lived here?" I asked as I kept my eyes on the horizon. Lucas quickly snapped out of his little moment. "Yeah I did, I used to come up here a lot with my Pappy Joe." He said. "Are we going to meet the famous Pappy Joe?" I asked. "Yeah, he's coming over for dinner tonight. He's very excited to meet everyone tonight." he said.

Lucas's POV:

"Especially you." I said under my breath. "What?" Riley asked. "Nothing." I said trying to cover up. Riley was glowing in the sunlight. She was the perfect view. But I never got my moment with her and we've been leading each other on since middle school. I just haven't had the courage to ask her out. I mean we've been on a couple dates and we tried to date but it was out of pressure so that didn't work out. But the one thing I couldn't stop thinking about was when Maya was being Riley and she said "That's why I like you, it's like you're my brother-." But then she quickly stopped herself. Could Riley actually think of me as a brother? Even after everything we have been through? Because I know you don't kiss your brother.

 **OKAY. So this is the first chapter to a very interesting story. *insert smirk face emoji.* I will upload chapter two once I get WiFi again or whenever I have time. But please leave your feedbacks I love reading them. Well the nice ones. Again, I am in school and I have a lot of work cause I'm taking more units this semester but I will try my best to update as soon as I can!**


	2. Chapter 2: Why Can't I Have You?

Chapter 2: Why Can't I Have You?

Riley's POV:

Texas has been so amazing so far! The group and I been going horseback riding a lot, we've been relaxing at the campfires, going to the lake. Everything has just been amazing. Today, all five of us were going to go to the rodeo. "So is this where we get to see you ride a sheep?" I asked as we walked into the stadium. Lucas chuckled. "No, but this is where you get to see someone else ride a bull." He said. "That was a bad come back, huckleberry." Maya said. We sat down in our rows and waited for it to begin. "So, are we ever going to see you ride a bull?" I asked Lucas. "I don't know, maybe." He said. I knew I had to stop hiding my feelings for Lucas. I mean he knows I like him and I know he likes me. But I don't know what I should do anymore.

"You know I don't understand the rodeo at all. It's so dangerous." I said as I stuffed my face with food. "It takes a lot of practice, I practiced with a sheep." He said. "I would love to see that video." I said as I looked at him. "I know you would." He said with a smile. We looked at each other for a moment. Then I quickly looked away.

Josh's POV:

"That looks so painful." I said as I took a sip of my drink. "Would you do that?" Maya asked. "Did you not just hear me? It looks painful." I said. "I'll do it with you." she said. "Maya, when are you going to stop with this? I'm too old for you." I said. "Not that old. It's only three years, Josh. What's three years in the history of love?" she asked. I smirked. A small part of me was developing feelings for Maya but I wanted to stop myself. I couldn't like her. She's my niece's best friend. But maybe being with Maya wouldn't be such a bad thing. I've seen her matured into a fine young lady. I love this whole new look she has and I liked the way she looked before as well.

Farkle's POV:

I felt like a fifth wheel. Maya had Josh, Riley had Lucas and I have this bucket of kettle corn. Even though, I was the only one in a relationship, I still felt like I was a fifth wheel. I looked over at Lucas who was trying way too hard to impress Riley, then I looked at Maya who was surprisingly focusing on the bull rider instead of Josh. "So what do you think?" Riley asked. "Of the rodeo?" I asked. "Well, yes." She said. "It's pretty interesting. Do you think Smackle would kill me if I tried it?" I asked. "Yeah, I think she would." Riley said with a chuckle. "I still want to try it." I said as I put kettle corn in my mouth. "Farkle, I don't even think you would last eight seconds on there." Maya said. "Challenge accepted." I said as I stood up, "No. Sit down," Maya said. "Nope, I will accept this challenge and I will succeed." I said.

"Farkle, you have to sign papers and it is a long process, so no riding bulls for you today." Lucas said. "You guys are no fun." I said as I sat back down. We continued to watch the rodeo and afterwards, we went to Pete's Diner to eat.

Lucas's POV:

We walked into Pete's diner and all eyes were on us. Well, all eyes were on my friends. They were unfamiliar faces. "Lucas, you're back in Texas!" Pete said as he walked over to me. "How long have you been here?" he asked. "Just for a couple of days, sir." I said. "And who are they?" he asked. "These are my friends, were here for the summer. This is Farkle, Maya, Josh and Riley." I said. Pete smirked. "Is it the Riley?" he asked me. "Let me guess he talked about me non-stop to you?" Riley asked. "This boy talks about you like it's his job," he said. I gave him a look. "Sorry." He mouthed. "Anyways, are y'all going to sit or are you just going to stand there?" He said as he went behind his counter.

We all took a seat in one of the booths and started to look at the menu. "So what sounds good?" I asked. "What do you usually get?" Riley asked. "It varies. Sometimes it's the catch of the day." I said. "I'll just stick to a burger and fries." Riley said. "Oh, come on Riley. This is Texas. You have to try something new." I said. "Maybe another day." she said as she continued to look at the menu. "Oh come on Riley, you just have to try it. Eat something fried for a day." Maya said. "Okay, not everything in Texas is fried." Josh said. "Thank you, Josh." I said. Maya looked at Josh for a moment and then back at her menu.

Riley's POV:

It amazed me to see the affect that Josh had on Maya. But a small part of me still believed that there was something going on. Something that I have feared for a long time. But I know I needed to shake this paranoia off. "Riley, are you okay?" Lucas asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired." I said. "Oh, should we take the food to go? Because I don't want you to fall asleep on us." He said. "I'll be fine. I can fight it." I said. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm sure.' I said. The waiter came over and took our orders and the waiting began. "So, what should we do tonight?" Josh asked. "How about a campfire?" Maya said. "Eh, not tonight." Lucas said. "We can do one tomorrow night," Farkle said. "Yeah, I'm kind of feeling overwhelmed." Lucas said. "You guys are no fun." Maya said. We all looked at her. "We've done campfires almost every night because you wanted to." Josh said. Maya bit her lip. "You have a point there" she said.

"Josh, can I talk to you outside?" I asked. "Yeah." he said. We both got up and walked out of the door. "What're you doing?" I asked. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I mean what're you doing to Maya? You're like shooting fire at her." I said. "No I'm not." He said. "Yes you are. Maya is my best friend and for some reason she has a huge crush on you. She likes you a lot and I know you don't want anything to happen because of the age difference. But stop being so hard on her." I said. "I haven't been hard on her. I'm purposely pushing her away so that she can get over me." he said. "You are an idiot. You're not pushing her away, the only thing you're doing is breaking her heart." I said. "I didn't mean for it to lead to that. I care about Maya a lot and that's the last thing I want to do." he said. "So talk to her. You told her that you were going to stop looking at her like an immature child. Keep your word." I said. "Will do." he said.

"Now enough about me and Maya. What about you and Lucas huh?" he asked. "What about me and him?" I asked. "You two have had this unofficial thing for so long now. You guys are juniors in high school. Something should've happened by now." he said. "I don't want to lose the friendship I have with him." I said. "So you two aren't going to do anything about the feelings you guys have for each other?  
Josh asked. "I want to, I want to be with him. But I think hiding my feelings is what's best." I said. "Riley, hiding your feelings for Lucas is the worst thing you can do. What're you so afraid of?" he asked. "I'm afraid of getting hurt and I'm afraid of Lucas falling for someone else." I said. "And would that someone be Maya?" he asked. "Yes. She's my best friend and I know I shouldn't be thinking like this. But ever since the yearbooks came out, things have been weird." I said. "The eighth grade yearbooks?" Josh asked. "Yes." I said. "Riley, that was three years ago." He said.

"I know but she never told me what the secret was. I feel like she's protecting me from it besides letting me face it." I said. "Riley, it's been three years. You should've learned by now that you don't need Maya to tell you how you feel about Lucas." Josh said. "You do have a point there." I said. "Didn't your dad tell you that you had a lot to think about at semiformal?" he asked. "Yeah, he did." I said. "And?" Josh asked. "I'm still confused." I said. "Riley, it's like you have Lucas tied to you and you're just dragging him along until you figure out your feelings for him. Lucas is crazy about you and I don't know why he hasn't had his moment yet." he said. "Maybe he hasn't had his moment because he's starting to have feelings for someone else." I said.

 **The story is going to get interesting pretty soon and I'll give you one spoiler: Lucaya isn't happening so my fellow rucas shippers can relax. But there will be drama in upcoming chapters. Now the questions: Will Josh ever admit to himself and to Maya that he has feelings for her? Will Riley figure out her feelings for Lucas? What will happen to the Riley and Lucas story? Stay tuned xx**


	3. Chapter 3: How Do You Feel?

Chapter 3: How Do You Feel?

 _Previously on "Without Our Love"  
"Riley, it's like you have Lucas tied to you and your dragging him along until you figure out your feelings for him. Lucas is crazy about you and I don't know why he hasn't had his moment yet." Josh said. "Maybe he hasn't had his moment because he's starting to have feelings for someone else." I said._

Riley's POV:

"What makes you think he's starting to have feelings for someone else?" Josh asked. "Because the glances he makes at her, how he wants her to be happy. I wish I had what they had." I said. "What? The non-stop teasing and the bickering?" Josh asked. "Well, it seems like she makes him happier than I could." I said. "Riley, Lucas broke a table for you when he found out you were being bullied. He barged into your room to see if you were okay. He put his jacket over you so that you wouldn't get wet, you guys rode on a white horse, he asked for your dad's permission to go on a date with you. Not all guys would do that for a girl unless their special. He told you how he felt and he cares about you so much. I know that he still has strong feelings for you." Josh said. "But what if he's slowly losing them?" I asked. "I don't think he is. He's been trying to impress you the whole time that we've been here." he said. "You're probably right." I said. "Lucas cares about everyone the same way you do, you, Maya, Farkle and Lucas are all best friends. You all care for each other." He said.

"I see what you did there." I said. Josh took a step back. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Changing the subject so that you wouldn't have to keep talking about Maya. When are you going to admit that you have feelings for her? It's okay with me if you do. Maya is amazing." I said. "I thought you didn't want Maya to be your aunt?" Josh asked. "At this point, I have no control over it." I said. Josh smirked. We walked back inside and our food was already on the table. "About time you two came back." Farkle said. "We were so close to eating your food… Well I was." Maya teased. "Everything alright?" Lucas asked. "Yeah, everything's fine." I said. I looked over at Josh and smiled. We finally dug into our food and spent the rest of the time talking about the rodeo.

Maybe I needed to stop hiding my feelings for Lucas. I had no problem showing them before. But now my insecurities have caught up to me and I just have to hope that my fears won't unfold. After the diner, we all went back to the house to relax. I went upstairs to my guest room so that I could sort some things out. I started to play some slow songs and clear my mind. What if I was the one that thought of Lucas as a brother? I mean Rachel thought of Jack as a boyfriend, and Eric as a brother. What if that was me that thought of Lucas as a brother? It would be better because then I wouldn't have to worry about him ever leaving my side. But I mean we dated out of pressure and that brought us closer. But I feel like if we were to date again. I would lose him forever. I should have this all figured out by now but I don't. I need to stop leading him on and something needs to happen.

Lucas's POV:

"Hey, Farkle you got a minute?" I said as I walked into his guest room. "Sure, what's going on?" he asked. "It's about Riley." I said. "What about Riley?" he asked. "I like her a lot, I've always liked her but I don't know what more I could do to show her that. Do you think Riley and I are right for each other?" he asked. "Only you can decide that. Do you think you two are right for each other?" he asked. "Well, yeah of course I do. I mean she's such a calming influence on me." I said. "Then you two are right for each other." He said. "You think so?" I asked. "You just decided that you two were right for each other." Farkle said. "I've always known that we were right for each other but I feel like she stopped believing in us. She's been brushing off my romantic gestures." I said. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I held her hand when we went horseback riding and she quickly pulled away after. It's like she didn't want to hold my hand." I said. "Maybe she's just trying to figure out how she feels" he said. "All I know is that, I don't want to lose her Farkle." I said. "You haven't and you won't." he said. "How do you know?" I asked. "Because I know Riley. She never lets go of the ones who are important to her. You're important to her." he said.

Maya's POV:

I needed to figure out how I felt about Josh. Am I overdoing it? Am I still playing it all wrong? Because I still remember that moment we had in the dorm room and at the bay window. A part of me knew that Josh does have feelings for me but he won't admit. The other part is just telling me to give up. He's never going to come around. I walked out of the house and sat in the gazebo by the lake. I was sitting there lost in my thoughts, when a brown hair, green eyed boy walked up to me. "Hi." He said. "Um, hi." I said. I should've brought my pepper spray, I thought to myself. "I'm Cletus." He said as he stuck out his hand. "I'm Maya." I said. "I hope I'm not scaring you. I just find you very intriguing." He said. I smiled and relaxed. "Oh, what's so intriguing about me?" I asked. "Well, for starters you have the most beautiful eyes." He said as he sat down next to me. "Likewise." I said.

"So I've never seen you around here before." He said. "Yeah, I'm just visiting with some friends." I said. "Anybody I know?" he asked. "I don't know, do you who Lucas Friar and Zay Babino is?" I asked. "I do, their good friends of mine. But they both moved to New York." He said. "Lucas didn't tell you he was in town?" I asked. "He did, he said he was going to make time but he wanted to get this girl he liked to adjust to the country life." he said. "Riley?" I asked. "Yeah, he is really crazy about that girl." He said. "Of course, who wouldn't be? She's one the best people I know." I said. "So I take it, you two are best friends?" he asked. "No, saying were best friends is more of an understatement. I would say were like sisters." I said. "Just by looking at you, I can tell that you're the rebel that turned into a believer." He said. "Wow, you have a good read on people." I said. "Yeah, not to sound cocky but I'd say it's a gift." He said. I smiled. "So, do you want to maybe go out to dinner with me sometime?" he asked. "Well I'm only here for the summer." I said. "There's always something called a summer romance." He said.

"That is very true. Are you supposed to be my summer romance?" I asked. "I think I am." He said. We continued to talk until the sun went down. This guy was pretty cool but he still wasn't Josh.

Josh's POV:

I got back from a trail walk earlier and I saw Maya talking to a guy that didn't look so familiar. I started to feel a little weird. Could I possibly be jealous right now? Maybe this is what I get for not admitting my feelings. But I couldn't like her. I don't deserve her. She's incredible but were still three years apart. Three years wasn't really that bad. I wanted to date Sophie and we were three years apart. So I sort of knew how Maya felt. But I didn't want to hurt her. I mean she's been through a lot already. I didn't want to add to it. But maybe Maya is just confused on how she feels. I mean I'm part of Riley's family and she loves our family. I had some figuring out to do as well.

 **It seems like everyone is rushing into trying to figure out their feelings, doesn't it? But it will all start to take a different turn. Stay tuned for chapter 4 because that's when it all begins xx**


	4. Chapter 4: I Thought I Knew You

Chapter 4: I Thought I Knew You

 **Okay, this chapter might be painful to read but please don't stop reading it. You will get through it. I believe in you. It may start off all sweet in the beginning but you just have to keep reading. By the way, I apologize for making Maya look a little desperate and obsessive. But this is my story. But she won't be as desperate and obsessive because as we saw in Girl Meets the Tell Tale Tot she matured.**

Riley's POV:

"Riley!" Lucas yells as I enter the house. "Hi." I said. "I've been looking for you." he said with a cheesy smile. "Of course you have." I teased. "Would you care to join me on a nature walk?" he asked. "But I just went on one." I said. Lucas frowned. "But you can go another one, with me…" he said. "I'm pretty tired. Lucas looked at me for a moment. "Riley, what's going on?" he asked. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Why are you pushing me away? I thought you liked me…" he said. "So what? I don't hang out with you for one day, and all of a sudden I'm pushing you away?" I asked. "Well are you?" he asked. "No and I don't mean to push you away." I said. "It seems like you are. It seems like you're doing everything in your power to not be around me. Did I do something wrong?" he asked. "No, you didn't do anything Lucas. You never do anything." I said. Lucas was taken back. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked. "Nothing." I said. "So all of a sudden I don't mean anything to you?" he asked. "No, that's not what I meant to say." I said.

"Then what did you mean to say?" he asked. "I meant, we've been waiting for something to happen but it hasn't." I said as I stepped back outside and sat down on the porch. "Lucas, I like you a lot. But at the same time I feel like were just wasting each other's time. I mean we've had this unofficial thing since the 7th grade. It's been three years, Lucas. Nothing has happened. Why is that?" I asked. Lucas remained silent. He had a sad look on his face. "I don't know." he managed to get out. "You don't know? Then what're we even doing?" I asked. "You know what, just forget it." I said as I got up and walked back inside. "Riley, wait." Lucas said. But I was already inside and I didn't plan on turning back.

Josh's POV:

I was listening to some music when the one and only Maya came into my room. "What're you doing?" she asked as she sat at the end of my bed. "Just listening to music. What brings you here?" I asked. "Oh, nothing just wanted to stop by and chat." She said. "Oh okay, about what?" I asked. "About us." She said with a cheesy smile. "Maya, there is no us." I said as I took my headphones out. "You always say that, but I know there is. Because I know you. Remember the dorm room." she said. "I'm a part of Riley's family, you love our family. You can just be confused with how you truly feel about me." I said. "No, I know I'm not. I'm not confused. I know how I feel about you Josh and I know that I want to be with you." she said. "I think you should really take what I said in consideration." I said. "Why are you being such a jerk?" she asked. "Because we can't become a thing, Maya. We just can't." I said. "Why? Give me one good reason why. Do not bring up the three years thing because that is old news Josh." She said. "We just can't." I said. "I know we can and we will become a thing." She said. "Maya, you have to let me go." I said. "No, I don't want to." She said. "But you need to." I said. "No, I know that you feel the same way you just can't admit it to yourself. I don't think I'm the confused one here. I think it's you." she said as she walked out the door.

I put my headphones back in and continued to listen to music. I started to think about what Maya was saying, I tried to shake it off but I couldn't. I couldn't shake it off, I couldn't shake off the fact that I might have feelings for her.

Lucas's POV:

"Hey, Farkle do you want to come with me to get more wood for the campfire tonight?" I asked. "Why not," he said as he walked out the door with me. "So where do we get it?" he asked. "Oh we have a shed full. But I just need help carrying." I said. "What about the wagon?" he asked. "Nah, this is a two man job." I said as I opened the shed. "You need to talk about Riley?" he asked. I didn't want Farkle to think that, I only bring him with me to talk about Riley. I guess I really do talk about her way too much. "No, man. Just wanted your help." I said as I started grabbing some wood. "So how are things with you and Smackle?" I asked. "Pretty good, I can't believe it's been a year." he said. "Well, that's good man. I'm happy for you." I said. "Stop hitting on me." he joked. "But I know you're dying to talk about Riley. So what's up?" he asked. "I don't want you to think I only come to you to talk about her." I said. "Don't worry, that's not what I'm thinking at all. You're like a brother to me, Lucas. Plus I talk about Smackle all the time with you." he said.

"Okay, I guess that makes us a little even." I said. "So, what's going on with Riley?" he asked. "I don't know, I don't know why I don't just go for it. I mean I like her so much but I feel like I'm going to be stuck thinking about the right time." I said. "Lucas, go for it. From the looks of things, she's not going to be waiting around forever. It's time to have your moment." he said. "You think so?" I asked. "Lucas, were juniors in highs school." He said. "Right." I said. We picked up the rest of the wood and walked back to the house.

"Lucas, can I have a word with you?" Josh said as he came down stairs. "Sure, what's up?" I asked. "Why don't we go talk in the living room." he said. We sat down on the couch. "So, I know you and my niece have had this thing since the 7th grade and I'm just curious as to why nothing has happened." He said. "Did Riley set you up to this?" I asked. "Nope, I was doing a lot of thinking and I'm just curious. What're you doing?" he asked. "I don't know, I mean I have strong feelings for her but I'm just waiting for the right time." I said. "Stop making a timeline for yourself and go for it." he said. "You're not the first to say that." I said. "Whatever happens, you better not hurt her. She's one of the best people I know and also she's my niece. So if you hurt her, I will crazy murder you. Alright bud?" he said as he got up and patted me on the back. It was already 8pm, so I decided to go get ready for the campfire.

Riley's POV:

At this point, I'm tired of everything. I'm tired of waiting for Lucas to have his moment, I'm tired of people keeping secrets from me, I'm tired of people lying to me to protect me. I'm tired of it all. I locked my door and laid back onto my bed. I started to have flashbacks. _"It's why I like you much, it's like you're my brother. Oh" Maya said. "What?" I asked. "It's like he's your-whoa" Maya said. "What just happened?" I asked. "If you want to listen to what people say, then listen to the right people. Listen to me, I'm Maya." She said. I started to smile. "Maya!" I said. "Yeah, sunshine?" she asked. "Your mom told you that you might find out a secret about me. Did you find anything about me that you should tell me?" I asked. Maya looked at me for a moment. "No." she said._ Brother? She found out that I liked Lucas as a brother? But I don't even know if I do. I kissed him. Why would I want to kiss someone I view as a brother? The better question is… why didn't she just tell me?

Farkle's POV:

"Riley, you there?" I asked as I knocked on her door. She unlocked the door. "You ready for the campfire?" I asked as I walked in and closed the door. "I guess I am." I said as I sat back down on my bed. "What's the matter? Lucas?" I asked as I sat down next to her. "I finally figured out the little "secret" that Maya kept from me." she said. "Why the air quotes?" I asked. "Because I wouldn't really consider it such a big secret. Why wouldn't she tell me that I liked Lucas as a brother?" she asked. "How do you know that's what she thought?" I asked. "Because remember when she pretended to be me and there was that huge moment in the classroom where she paused after saying that's why I like you so much, it's like you're my brother." She said. "Oh yeah, but Riley, that was three years ago. It's obvious you don't like him that way. Well to me, it doesn't seem like you like him as a brother." I said. "I guess I just have a lot of things to think about." I said.

Lucas's POV:

"Why are we the only two here right now?" I asked Maya. "I don't know. This is weird. Where is everybody? This is a campfire." She said. "Well, I guess it's just you and me right now. How are you enjoying Texas?" I asked. "It's better than I imagined. I'm glad I came. But I just wish Josh would tell me how he felt you know." she said. "Josh is three years older than you." I said. "So? What's the big deal? It's only three years." She said. "It may not be a big deal to you. But it could be a big deal to him." I said. "I know it is." She said. "But my intuition is telling me that he does feel the same way, he just can't get himself to admit it." She said. "You never know, maybe he will admit it to himself one day. He'd be stupid to let this age difference get in the way. You're amazing, Maya." I said. We locked eyes for a moment and I saw Josh walking down the stairs. Before you know it, my lips were touching Maya's. We quickly pulled apart. "What was that for?" she asked. But before I could say anything. "Lucas Friar!" Josh yelled as he walked up to us.

"Josh!" Maya said as she quickly got up. "This isn't what it looked like." I said as I got up as well. "I saw the whole thing. How could you two do that to Riley?" he yelled. "It didn't mean anything." I said. "It looked like it did to me." we heard someone say. We both turned around to see a crushed Riley. "Riley, I didn't kiss him back. I promise you. You know I wouldn't hurt you." Maya said as she walked over to her. Riley took a step back. "Josh, I like you and only you. But you don't seem to feel the same way." she said. "So since I didn't feel the same way, your first intention was to kiss your best friends crush?" he asked. "No, this wasn't my intention at all." she said. "It wasn't mines either. I only did it to help her make you jealous." I said. "Oh, so it was your intention to kiss her? How could you do that to Riley?" he asked again. "I didn't mean to, nothing is going on between me and Maya." I said. "Oh, please. I knew there was something going on the minute the eighth grade yearbooks came out." Riley said.

"Riley, Lucas and I do not have feelings for each other." Maya said. "Really? Because it looks like you do." Josh said. "And you know what's funny? I was finally able to admit to myself that maybe I do have feelings for you and that maybe we could be a thing. But I guess I'm the fool here." Josh says as he walks away. "Josh, wait." Maya said as she was about to run after him but stopped. "Riley, you have to believe me. I do not have feelings for Lucas." she said as she walked back to her. "Tell me the kiss meant nothing." She said. "The kiss meant nothing I promise you." Maya said. Riley looked at her for a moment. She shakes her head and starts to walk away. "Riley, wait!" I yelled after her. "Leave me the hell alone, Lucas." she snapped. Maya ran after her.

What did I just do? This is the stupidest thing I have ever done in my life. I hurt the one person I never wanted to hurt.

Riley's POV:

My whole world had just been shattered, my heart felt weak, my back felt like it had been stabbed a million times. Once, I got away from the back of the house, I started walking on the trails again and of course, Maya ran after me. "Riley, stop!" she says as she grabs my arm. "Let go." I said between my teeth. I didn't even turn around. I couldn't stand to look at her right now. "Ring power." She said. "That lost its affect the minute you kissed Lucas." I said. "I didn't kiss him! He kissed me!" she said. "You can say that all you want. But I know what I saw." I said. "Riley, you're my best friend." She said. "Try were." I said. "No, we are. Riley, I need you in my life." she said. "No, you don't and we aren't best friends Maya. Not anymore, I thought we were. But then you kissed Lucas and you never to me how I felt about him." I said. "But it's stupid of me to depend on you, to tell me how I feel. I should be my own mind." I said. "Riley, you know you don't need me to tell you how you feel." she said.

"You know what I realized Maya?" I asked as I turned around. "What?" she asked. "Everyone has been protecting me from everything that life has been throwing at me. Besides letting me face it. Not only that, everyone thinks I'm okay, they think of me as an airhead, they think I'm happy and so full of life. Well I'm not on the inside. On the inside, I'm broken just like you. We may have different stories. But I too am broken. I'm insecure and I always sacrifice anything to make sure that the people in my life are happy. I always help everyone out and what do I get in return? This." I said. Maya kept her eyes on me. "I also realized that I don't need you to tell me how I feel about Lucas. Just because you put on a wig doesn't mean you knew exactly how I felt about Lucas." I said. "You've matured a lot." She said. "You could've just told me that you thought I liked Lucas as a brother. I understand that you wanted me to figure it out. But why would you keep it a secret? You could've told me and I would've figured it out a long time ago and maybe something would've changed. Maybe we wouldn't be in this position right now." I said.

"Just why didn't you tell me?" I asked. "Because I didn't want to hurt you." she said. "And yet you did." I said. "Riley, I've told you this before and I will tell you again. Lucas doesn't like me. He will never like me." she said. "You always say that, it's like your denying the fact that you and Lucas could actually become a thing. Well here's your chance. Go for it. Just count me out." I said. "I thought we weren't going to let a guy break our friendship apart? Remember what happened with Farkle?" she asked. I turned back around and walked away. "Don't walk away. I know you remember." Maya said.

Josh's POV:

There was so much anger building up inside of me that I had no idea what I was going to do. I walked back up to my room and I couldn't get myself to sit down. I just kept walking back and forth. The only thing I was thinking about right now was Riley. Seeing how crushed she looked made me feel awful. How could Maya and Lucas do this to her? All of a sudden, someone knocks on my door. I turn around to find the devil. "What do you want, friar?" I asked. "I just wanted to talk and apologize. I didn't mean for any of that to happen." He said. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." I said. "Riley, wouldn't give me the time and Maya is with her right now." he said. "Well, I mean wouldn't it make sense for both you and Maya to be talking to her? Actually no, seeing the two of you together again would crush her even more." I said. "You're not making this easy and I just want to talk about this." he said. "To talk about what? How you stabbed my niece in the back and kissed her best friend?" I asked. I took off my jacket and started walking towards him. "What're you doing?" he asked as he took a step back. "I warned you. I warned you not to hurt her and there you go kissing her best friend. Do you not realize how wrong that is?" I said as I continued to walk towards him. I clenched my fist and my body temperature started to rise.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 **I will continue this in part two. But Lucas and Maya definitely messed up big time. Do you guys think this will tear the whole friendships apart? Where was Farkle? Will Riley be able to forgive them? How do you think the Josh and Lucas situation will play out?**


	5. Chapter 5: Where Do We Stand Now?

Chapter 5: Where Do We Stand Now?

 _Previously on "Without Our Love"_

 _Josh's POV:_

" _I warned you. I warned you not to hurt her and there you go kissing her best friend. Do you realize how wrong that is?" I said as I continued to walk towards him. I clenched my first and my body temperature started to rise._

"Josh, I only kissed her because she was upset over you." he said. "When someone is upset you don't kiss them on the lips unless you're with them. You either give them a kiss on the cheek, or you give them a hug. But you don't give them a kiss on the lips." I said. "I didn't mean for it to happen. But Josh don't you understand how much Maya likes you? She even told you in the college dorm room. Every time you come around she gets weak to her knees. Literally." He said. "Wow, you're trying to cover up your feelings for her. How cute." I said. "The only person I have feelings for is Riley. Maya told you how she felt about you and you completely shut her out. She spent the whole time talking about you at the campfire." He said. "Why are we talking about this? I should be punching you in the face for breaking Riley's heart. How about we talk about that?" I said. "Josh, don't. We sound like teenage girls." He said. "It's funny, you're the only one that sounds like a teenage girl." I said. "It's also funny how you broke Riley's heart yet you're talking about Maya." I said.

Riley's POV:

I couldn't turn back around to face Maya again. I couldn't get myself to walk away. I attempted. But I couldn't do it. "Riley, look at me." she said. I remained where I was. "Riley, talk to me." She said again. "What do you want me to say, Maya? That I forgive you for kissing Lucas? I forgive you for betraying my trust? I forgive you for always flirting with him?" I asked. "Flirting? You think Lucas and I flirt with each other right in front of you?" she asked. "Well, if it's not in front of me, it's when you two are alone. Things get very interesting when you two are alone." I said. "What's that supposed to mean? Maya asked.

Lucas's POV:

"Riley is the one that I like, I like her a lot. My world was black and white before she came and now it's full of color." I said. "Well now her world is black and white because her heart is completely shattered. She saw you kissing her best friend and that tore her apart. She's put up with you two teasing each other and her insecurities got the best of her. She likes you a lot. She even told you that, heck she kissed you. Riley is one of the best people in this world and you obviously don't deserve her." He said. My heart sank. I knew he was right. Riley did deserve better. "Hey, guys what happened to the campfire?" Farkle asked as he walked in. "Whoa, why is there so much tension in here?" he asked. "Lucas kissed Maya." Josh said. "YOU KISSED MY WOMAN!" Farkle yelled as he ran over and attacked me. Josh quickly pulled him away. "Don't you have Smackle?" I asked. "Yes, but Maya is still my "woman" and so is Riley. You hurt either of them. I kill you. Remember?" he said. "Does Riley know?" he asked. "She saw." Josh said.

Josh was still holding onto Farkle until he released himself. He started walking towards me again. "Lucas." he said as he put his hand on my shoulder. "You know I love you, and I'm sorry I have to do this." he says in a soft tone. Before I know it, he slapped me across the face. "I deserved that." I said. "Are you okay now?" he says in softer tone. "No, not-." Before I could finish, he slaps me again. "I was going to do that. Well I was going to do more than that." Josh said. "Well, I grew balls faster than you." Farkle said.

Riley's POV:

"Lucas and I tease each other all the time but that doesn't mean we like each other. We're best friends. But nothing is going on between us. I like Josh, remember?" Maya said. "I think you need to figure out your feelings, Maya." I said as I walked upstairs to my room and locked the door. There was no way she could get into the window. I turned off the lights and laid in the darkness until I fell asleep. I felt numb all over. I couldn't wrap my head around how this could have possibly happened. They are my best friends. I thought they would never do something like this to hurt me. I mean there was the moments in the classroom, where I saw that they could have something between them.

The way he rubbed her shoulders when her dad came back to town, how he wanted her to be happy. But he wants everyone to be happy. How he caught her when she fell asleep on him, how he stopped her from trying to kill Farkle. He always stopped her from fighting anyone. Maybe Lucas and I are wrong for each other. Maybe Maya and Lucas are the ones who belong together. I decided to finally shut my eyes and try to sleep this off. But I couldn't close my eyes for more than five seconds without someone knocking on my door, trying to get me to talk. I ignored it and tried my best to go to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up feeling numb. My eyes were puffy, my nose was red. I felt so betrayed by the two people I loved. I know I shouldn't be making a big deal out of this since Lucas and I aren't even official. But she knew how much I liked him and she saw my reaction when she asked him out. I know that was only so that she could push us together. But that all changed after the eighth grade year books came out. I looked over at the clock and it was 8am. My door was still locked and I didn't plan on unlocking it any time soon.

Lucas's POV:

"Why aren't you touching your breakfast, son? It's your favorite." My dad said. "I'm not really hungry." I said. "What's the matter? Where are the rest of your friends?" he asked. "Their probably still sleeping or trying to avoid contact today." I said. My dad looked confused. "Did I miss something? Did something happen at the campfire?" he asked. "I kissed Maya… on accident." I said. "How do you accidently kiss someone? Did you trip over a rock and fall onto her lips?" he asked. I looked at him with annoyance. "Hey, I'm your dad. Don't give me that look boy." he said. Before he could say anything else, Maya came down the stairs. It got awkward. "Good morning." She said quietly. "Good morning, eggs?" my dad asked. "Yes please." she said. She didn't make eye contact with me at all. "I'll go check on Sophia." My dad said after he gave Maya her breakfast.

It was quiet for a moment. Then I finally spoke up. "You know were going to have to talk about that kiss." I said. "I know." she said as she kept her eyes on her plate. "We have had some heartfelt moments, Maya. We have had tension between us. Were like fire. But when we kissed, I'll be honest with you. I felt nothing." I said. "Neither did I, it just made me realize how strong my feelings for Josh are. It made me realize that he is the one that I want to be with." she said as she looked me straight in the eyes. I knew she was telling the truth. "The kiss made me realize that I'm in love with Riley." I said. "In love?" she said with a smile. "Yeah, I know were only in high school but I think I am in love with her." I said. "Why don't you tell her that?" she said. "I will. If she ever forgives us." I said. Maya started teasing me about Riley again and we didn't even notice her watching us from the staircase.

"Anyways, I'm going to go take a walk. But I really am sorry for kissing you. I shouldn't have done that at all." I said. "No, it's okay. The kiss made us realize that were wrong for each other." She said. "Now, we just have to get the ones we want to forgive us." I said as I walked out the door.

Riley's POV:

I couldn't believe it. Even after what I said to Maya, there she is with Lucas again. My insecurities were really getting the best of me. My self-esteem was low. I knew I had to go get some fresh air. So I quickly freshened up and sneaked out the door before anyone could see me. I walked along the trails again, and everything came back to me. The feeling I had when I saw Lucas kiss her, the image of it all just made me feel sick. I finally reached the lake and I stood there for a moment and inhaled the fresh air. After that, I started walking along the water when all of a sudden, I bumped into someone. It was Lucas. "I'm sorry." He said. So he could apologize for bumping into me but not apologize for what he did. Fabulous. Without saying a word, I looked at him for a moment and then continued to walk. I didn't know where I was headed but then I found myself back at the ranch and I walked right into the barn.

Lucas followed me and walked into the barn. "Riley. You're going to have to talk to me sooner or later." He said. I continued to remain silent, I turned back around and tried to walk out. But the doors wouldn't open. We were locked in. Lovely. I thought to myself. "Now it looks like you have to talk to me." he said. "You want to talk Lucas? Sure let's talk." I said as I sat on the hay stacks. Lucas joined my side. "Riley, I'm-." before he could say anything, I slapped him. "You're not the first one to do that." he said as he rubbed his cheek. He was about to say something, but I slapped him again. "Will you stop?" he asked. "Does it hurt?" I asked. "Yes." He said. "Well at least I didn't hurt you as much as you hurt me." I said.

"You know, Lucas." I said as I cleared my throat. "I've been very tolerate with how you and Maya act around each other. I mean I loved the fact that the guy I liked and my best friend were bonding. How lovely. But then you guys got voted favorite couple and that changed. I thought to myself hmmm. I know my best friend wouldn't hurt me and Lucas likes me so of course he wouldn't go after my best friend. But boy was I wrong." I said. "Riley, you're scaring me." he said. "Oh am I?" I asked. "Yes, you are." He said. "Good. You know Lucas I've liked you ever since the first day I met you. I told you, you were the first boy I ever liked and you told me you were worth it. Then at semi-formal you were being a jerk, and you were dancing with Maya. You didn't give her a straight answer when she asked why you were dancing with her. You never give her straight answers. I thought that was strange. Isn't that strange?" I said. "Are you going to let me explain myself?" he asked. "Sure, give it your best shot, Friar." I said.

Lucas positioned himself to face me again. "Riley, the minute you fell onto my lap on the subway I knew that you were going to mean a lot to me. I never told you this, but the minute you got off the subway, I texted my mom and told her about you. I didn't think someone like you could have a big impact on someone like me. But you did." He said. "And when I found out that we were in the same class, I took it as faith. That we were meant to be something more than just friends. That we were meant to be in each other's lives." He said. "Why did you kiss Maya?" I asked. "I got caught up in the moment. I saw Josh watching us and I thought I would help her make him jealous. But I know that was stupid of me because he talked to me about not hurting you and I went and did that. But It made me realize how strong my feelings are for you. When I kissed Maya, I felt nothing. I didn't feel the things I felt when you kissed me." He said. "I love you, Riley." He said. I looked at him for a moment and he started to lean in towards me but I turned away. "Don't try to kiss me. It won't change the fact that your lips touched my best friend's lips." I said. "But it meant nothing, didn't you hear me Riley? I love you." he said. I tried my hardest to avoid it. "Lucas, just because it didn't mean anything to you doesn't mean it didn't mean anything to me. Remember when Farkle was hurt over what Billy said to him and how we all wrote our flaws on our foreheads? Do you not remember I had the word INSECURE written across my forehead. I'm insecure, Lucas. Every time I see you with someone else, do you know how I feel? I feel empty. I feel hopeless. Like I'm not good enough for you. Oh and not to mention the fact that you view Maya as the blonde beauty and I'm just the pretty brunette." I said. "I didn't go into detail with Maya, I said you're the pretty brunette that doesn't give up on anyone, or anything. No sacrifice is big enough for her friends." He said. "Don't interrupt me. After Zay said you viewed Maya as the blonde beauty, you had that look on your face. It's like you realized you got caught. I saw right through you. I liked you Lucas. But it seems like you were getting to me so that you can get to Maya." I said.

Lucas's POV:

"I wasn't using you to get to Maya. I love you, Riley!" I said. Why was she avoiding the fact that I've been saying that I loved her. "Every time you and Maya interacted I tried my best to hide the pain. Of course I succeeded because no one saw it. Every time you two teased each other I was silent. Being silent was my loudest cry." She said. My heart broke even more. "But of course you didn't know that, and then when the yearbooks came and you guys were voted best couple. It's like my heart ran over to you to be saved, but you took a knife and you stabbed it. You put my heart through so much damage, yet I still liked you." she said. "And then I walked over to my dad and asked him how I could like two people differently, and my uncle Jack and my uncle Eric told me that they were in a love triangle with a girl. She liked Jack as a boyfriend and she liked Eric as a brother…and my dad told me I had a lot to think about and I did." She said.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 **Okay, so the next chapter is going to get even more interesting. Hopefully you guys are hanging in there. Please leave your feedback! Since Riley is avoiding the fact that Lucas told her he loves her, I wonder what's going to happen with Maya and Josh… Get ready for Chapter 6 xx**


	6. Chapter 6: Don't Runaway

Chapter 6: Don't Runaway

 _Previously on "Without Our Love"_

 _Lucas's POV:_

" _I wasn't using you to get to Maya. I love you, Riley!" I said. Why was she avoiding the fact that I've been saying that I loved her. "Every time you and Maya interacted I tried my best to hide the pain. Of course I succeeded because no one saw it. Every time you two teased each other I was silent. Being silent was my loudest cry." She said. My heart broke even more. "But of course you didn't know that, and then when the yearbooks came and you guys were voted best couple. It's like my heart ran over to you to be saved, but you took a knife and you stabbed it. You put my heart through so much damage, yet I still liked you." she said. "And then I walked over to my dad and asked him how I could like two people differently, and my uncle Jack and my uncle Eric told me that they were in a love triangle with a girl. She liked Jack as a boyfriend and she liked Eric as a brother…and my dad told me I had a lot to think about and I did." She said._

Lucas's POV:

My heart was pounding, my head was spinning. My hands were getting sweaty. Please don't like me as a brother. I thought to myself. "Were you thinking about us?" I asked. "I'm always thinking about us." She said. "But I thought I liked you more than just a friend. But then Jack told me to keep my friends close. It's the best decision I could ever make. I didn't want to lose you in my life. But I already am." She said. "No, you're not losing me at all. Riley, how many times do I have to tell you I love you for you to understand?" I said. I started to feel frustration coming over me. "But I am. I'm losing you and were losing everything we ever built." She said. "Riley, stop. This is ridiculous. You didn't lose me. You're never going to lose me." I said. "Things change Lucas, people change, feelings change." She said. "What're you saying?" I asked. "I like you…as a brother, Lucas." she said. "What? No you don't, I know you don't." I said as I got up. "You can't tell me how I feel." she said as she stood up. "I know you don't truly feel that way." I said. "Lucas, just accept it." she said.

"No, I'm not going to accept it. I know that's not how you really feel about me." I said in denial. "It is how I truly feel, I realized that were so close, it's like were brother and sister." She said. Anger started pouring over me. "No! We are not like brother sister. Siblings do not obsess over each other. They don't keep souvenirs of each other in their drawers. I still have the purple scarf that you were dancing with at the board meeting. Siblings do not kiss. They don't go on dates, they don't tell each other they have feelings for each other. They don't hold hands or define their relationship." I yelled. "Riley, I'm sorry for hurting you. I never wanted to hurt you. I'm so sorry. But I know you don't feel like that. Because I know you, I know you don't like me as a brother. You mean so much to me and I'm worth it. I know we will get over this because one day it's going to be you and me at the altar. Not me and Maya or me and Missy. You and me." I said. "There is no you and me anymore, Lucas. There never was. We had an unofficial thing that never became official." She said. "So that's just it? It's over? I thought you believed in us the same way you believed in Pluto. I thought we were Pluto." I said.

Riley walked over to the barn window and I walked over and wrapped my arms around her. I put my head down on her shoulders. "Riley, please. This can't be over." I said. "Lucas, let go of me." she said. "No, I'm never letting you go. I'm not going to let you fly away like a balloon." I said. "This isn't the titanic, or Up. Let me go." She said. I held onto her tighter. "If I let you go, then everything we built is gone, all the moments we've shared together would just be a memory. Our story will just be a memory." I said. Riley tries to take my arms off of her but I didn't let her. "Lucas, let me go. This is ridiculous. I can report you." she said.

Josh's POV:

I couldn't get myself out of bed, at all. I can't believe Lucas broke Riley's heart. Even after I had that talk with him. I didn't even want to face Maya. But of course, she knocked on my door. I looked up from my phone and back down. "Hey…" she said as she walked in. I remained silent. "Well, I know you aren't going to make this easy." She said as she sat down on my bed. "It's never been easy with you, Maya." I said. "Well you shut me down so many times, of course it hasn't." she said. I sat up. "Did you really mean what you say? In the college dorm room? Did you mean it when you said you liked me?" I asked. "Yes, I did." She said. "Then why'd you kiss Lucas?" I asked. "I was sitting there talking about you, and I felt vulnerable." She said. "So your first instinct is to kiss your best friends first crush?" I asked. "It didn't mean anything. Because it made me realize that you're the only one I want. But I can't seem to have you." she said. "Riley is your best friend, you two are like sisters. First, you ask Lucas out and you saw her reaction." I said. "I did it only to push them together." she said. "It made it seem like you were pushing them together so that you can hide your feelings for him." I said.

"How can I hide feelings for him if they are non-existent?" she asked. "How can I be so sure, because-." Maya got up and kissed me. I ended up giving in and kissed her back.

Riley's POV:

I was finally able to let Lucas go from me. We were back to sitting on the hay stacks but we were looking straight ahead, instead of at each other. I looked down on the floor. It hurt. It hurt to push him away. But were not right for each other anymore. "Riley." Lucas said. "I know this won't change anything, but you may have fell onto my lap on the subway, but I'm the one that fell for you first." He said. A warm feeling a came over me and I was trying my hardest to not smile. "Yeah, then you fell onto my best friends lips." I said. "Would you stop with that?" he asked. "How do you expect me to get over something like that? I can't just get over something like that. I just can't get over it in one second and go back to the way things were." I said. I stood up again. "Lucas, I liked you a lot. You made me feel like I could do anything I set my heart on, you were the only one that saw what I was capable of doing. You made me feel special. You made me feel like I was the most beautiful girl in the world. it didn't matter to you if I did some stupid dance in front of a thousand people, it didn't matter how I looked to you because I thought I was the most beautiful girl in your eyes. But I don't think I am anymore. We lost the connection we had with each other. We lost our story. I thought you were worth it. You told me, you were." I said. Lucas looked up at me and then he got up and gently pushed me against the wall. He grabbed my face and pulled me into a kiss. Of course, I ended up kissing him back but I stopped myself and pushed him off.

"I can't like you anymore, Lucas." I said quietly. "Why not?" he asked. "I just can't." I said. I walked over to the barn door and opened the doors with all I had. They opened and I walked out. Lucas sat there for a minute and put his head down.

Josh's POV:

We finally pulled apart and we looked at each other for minute. A smile spread across Maya's face. I looked at her with confusion. "Just because you kissed me, doesn't change the fact that you kiss another guy. You know I don't even know why I'm making a big deal out of this. You're not even mine." I said. "But I can be. Don't tell me you didn't feel that connection when we kissed." She said. "It doesn't matter if I did." I said. "Yes it does, it does matter Josh. Don't run away from this again. I like you and I know you like me too. Otherwise, it wouldn't have bugged you that I got kissed by another guy, you wouldn't be acting like this. You finally got over this, don't run away again." she said. "It bugged me because I had talk with Lucas about not hurting Riley and he went and kissed you. It bugged me because Riley's heart is broken. Shouldn't you be talking to her instead of me?" I said. "She wasn't in her room." she said. "Oh, so you think I ran away?" I asked "Yes you did, literally. When I was forced to double date with Farkle, you ran away." she said. "I had to keep my distance from you, Maya." I said. "Why?" she asked.

"Because I don't deserve you, Maya." I said. "Yes, you do." she said. "No, I don't. Now will you just leave me alone?" I said. Maya took a deep breath and walked out the door without saying another word.

Riley's POV:

I walked upstairs and I ran into Maya. I walked right passed her. "Riley, stop." She said. I turned around and gestured her into my room. She walked in and we sat by the window. "I'm sorry for everything." She said. "I know you are and I know we shouldn't let a guy come between us. I'm sorry for not believing you." I said. "You're my best friend. I need you back in my life." she said. "Everything is changing, Maya." I said. "It is, but like I said. This never will." She said. "It just hurt me, Maya. You guys put me through so much. I was jealous and insecure. I got used to seeing you and Lucas together. I got used to being hurt." I said. "You shouldn't be used to it, Riley. I didn't know I was hurting you. I never wanted to hurt you." Maya said. "This is going to take some time for me to get over and it's going to take me time to forgive. But I will when I'm ready." I said. Maya nodded her head. "Okay, that's fair." She said. She got up and walked out of my room.

I walked out and into Josh's room. "Hey." I said as I walked in. "Riley, are you okay?" he asked as he walked over to me and hugged me. "I'll be fine. It's not like they haven't put me through this before." I said. "They've put you through this before? So this isn't the first time you've caught them kissing?" he asked. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant I'm so used to feeling like this. It's kind of normal." I said. "It shouldn't be and you shouldn't be used to this." he said. "Everyone ends up hurting me, Josh. Even the people who say they wouldn't." I said. Josh pulled me into another hug and I started to tear up. I finally wiped away the tears. "I'm sorry but let's talk about this later. I think I just need to clear my mind." I said. "No, let it out. Why don't we go get some ice cream?" he asked. "That sounds like a better plan." I said. Josh grabbed his wallet and we walked to the nearest ice cream shop.

Farkle's POV:

The group is falling apart, no one can speak to each other without getting into a fight. I feel like it's up to me to save these friendships and I know exactly what I'm going to do. All of a sudden, Lucas walked into the house looking completely shattered. "Hey, man." I said. Lucas came over and slouched down on the chair next the couch. "Yee, you look terrible." I said. He didn't say a word at all. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked. He remained in the same position. His eyes were glued to the floor. "Are you alive?" I asked. He shook his head no. "Well, look at that we got somewhere." I said as I scooted closer. "Do you need a hug, man?" I asked. Lucas nodded and we both got up and we hugged it out. "She's gone." He mumbled. "Who's gone?" I said as I let him go. "Riley. Riley's gone." He said. "Maybe this is for the best." I said. As much as I wanted Riley and Lucas together, it pained me to see both of them in pain. So I figured maybe they weren't meant to be. But I still wanted to get the gang all on one page again.

 **So I know Farkle is being a weird friend, but you will see what he does to bring these friends back together. He's acting this way for a certain reason. But will he succeed? Let's find out in the upcoming chapters. xx**


	7. Chapter 7: I'm Moving On

Chapter 7: I'm Moving On

Riley's POV:

I was sitting at the gazebo, writing in my journal when a cute guy ran by, he had dirty blonde hair, brown eyes. He looked about 5'6. He was shirtless and had a really built body. He stopped running when he locked eyes with mine. I quickly went back to writing but he walked over to me. "Excuse me, miss?" he said. "Oh, yes?" I said as I look up. "I haven't seen a fine young lady like you around here before." He said. I blushed. "I'm just visiting." I said. "Do you mind if I sit with you?" he asked. "Not at all." I said. "So what's your name?" he asked. "Riley, what's yours?" I asked. "I'm Jacob." He said. "Well, it's nice to meet you." I said. "Likewise." He said.

"So where are you from?" he asked. "I'm from New York." I said. "Oh, a city girl. I like that." he said. We started talking about our interests, our favorite food. Then he asked me what was my favorite thing was about the city. The more I talked to this guy, the more I became interested.

Lucas's POV:

It's been two days since the campfire incident. I still felt so numb. I just wanted to see Riley. I had to find her. "Hey, dad have you seen Riley?" I asked as I walked into the living room. "I think she went out." He said. "Do you know where? Because I really need to talk to her." I said. "Lucas, stop." He said. "Excuse me?" I said. "Haven't you two broken each other's hearts enough?" my dad said. "You told me to fight for anything that I believe is worth fighting for, dad. She's worth fighting for. You're my dad. Shouldn't you be there for me?" I asked. "I am here for you, I always will be. But you two have been on this emotional roller coaster. I think it's time to let each other go." He said. "I don't want to let her go, dad." I said. "Sometimes, you have to let them go and if they come back, then they're yours." He said. "Don't give me quotes, dad." I said as I walked out of the living room.

I was walking on the trails when I heard laughter coming from the lake. I knew that laugh anywhere. "Riley." I thought to myself. I walked through the little woods but only to find another guy sitting with her. All of a sudden my world was not black and white anymore. It's was just black. I couldn't stand to see Riley with someone else. I sat down on the dirt and just watched them. I watched her throw her head back and laughed. I haven't seen her that happy in so long. "Lucas, stop torturing yourself." Farkle said as he joined me on the ground. "Your dad told me I'd find you here. Who's that with Riley?" he asked. "What's up, man?" I said. "Just wanted to see how you were doing." He said. "I don't know how I'm doing. I'm not even fine. But I know I need to win Riley back," I said. "Lucas, stop." He said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "You had your chance, you're my best friend. But you've broken her heart enough." He said. "Oh, I broke her heart?" I asked. "You broke her heart, she broke your heart. This isn't healthy. I saw what Riley went through. But I just silently sat there. How could you and Maya not realize you were hurting Riley." He said.

"Maya and I are friends." I said. "I don't think so. I think it's more than that." he said. "What is up with everyone saying that? Maya and I talked about it and we realized that we don't have feelings for each other." I said. "I've had to sit and watch Riley's heart break every time you two would tease each other. She hid it. Every time. But I saw it." he said. "Farkle, friends tease each other all the time. You know that. So what's the difference?" I asked. "I know friends do that, but when you do it in front of someone like Riley. It stings. She's insecure and when you're insecure and you have feelings for someone they don't mix well. Because when they see someone else making you happier than they ever could, they shut themselves out. They begin to self-doubt themselves and wonder how they would kill to make you just as happy. Does that make sense?" He said. Then it all sunk it again. "Wow." I said. "That's what Riley told me." I said. I got up and cautiously walked down the little hill. "Where are you going?" he asked. "To get Riley." I said. "Lucas, don't. Just let her be alone." He said. "She's not alone. She's with another guy." I said. "Plus, I'm never going to let her be alone." I said. But before I even took another step. The guy kissed Riley. I slowly sat back down. It killed me. "Lucas?" Farkle said. My body temperature started to rise, I clenched my fist, and I couldn't get any words out. My eyes started to water and I felt suffocated. "Wait a minute." I managed to get out. "That's Jacob. I used to go to school with him. We used to be friends." I said. "Lucas, don't do it. You're better than this." Farkle said.

"It's Riley, you saw the way I reacted when I found out she was being bullied." I said. "But Lucas, do you think Riley wants to see this side of you again?" He asked. He had a point. I tried to calm myself down. So I got up and walked away from the view of her and Jacob. I walked away from Farkle. I walked away from everything.

Farkle's POV:

I know I shouldn't have been so harsh on Lucas. But this is the harsh reality and this was also a part of my plan. I know that if I tell Lucas to let Riley go, that will only encourage him to fight for her even more. But with the whole Maya, Riley and Lucas situation I don't know how to pull that off. But I know I will figure it out. I walked back to the house but besides going inside, I sat down on the porch bench. Coming to Texas was supposed to be a peaceful get away. But it has been everything except peaceful. I just wanted my friends back.

Riley's POV:

"Why'd you do that for?" I asked. "I'm sorry, I saw an opening and just went for it. Do you want me to leave?" he asked. "No, it's just I haven't been kissed in a really long time." I said. "How long has it been?" he asked. "I haven't been kissed since the 7th grade." I said. "Wow, that long huh?" he asked. "Yeah, the guy I liked didn't really make much of a move after that." I said. "Do you still like him?" he asked. That was a good question. I don't know how I felt at the moment. "I don't know." I said. "Well, that guy is dumb because from what I've seen so far, you're an incredible human being." He said. "Do you want to go for a walk?" I asked. "Why not." He said as he got up. He took my hand in his and we walked along the lake. I felt so different. Is this what being truly happy felt like?

Maya's POV:

I couldn't get my mind off of anything. My best friend is barely speaking to me, she's hurt. I hurt the one person I never wanted to lose. The group is slowly tearing apart and were leaving Farkle out in the dust and that isn't fair at all. I had to go talk to him. I walked out of the house to find Farkle sitting on the porch bench. "Hey, haven't seen you around lately." I said as I sat down next to him. "I've been doing my own thing and I've turn into a therapist for almost everyone lately." He said. "I'm sorry were putting you through this." I said. "That sounded a little harsh, but whatever." He said. "Are you mad at me too?" I asked. "No, I'm not mad at you Maya. Just why did you do it?" he asked. "Believe me, it wasn't my intention." I said. "I know it wasn't, but it still happened." He said. "I don't know what more I could do. Riley said it's going to take time for her to forgive and I don't know if she ever will." I said.

"It's Riley. I know she'll come around. She has to. You two are best friends and I hate seeing you two like this." he said. "I miss her." I said. "I know, so do I." he said. "But isn't she cool with you?" I asked. "Yeah she is. But she's not even her right now. She's damaged. I mean she's trying to put on a brave face today but I know she's not okay." He said.

Lucas's POV:

I went back to the lake hoping that Riley and Jacob would be gone by now but I saw them walking back to the gazebo. "Thank you for a lovely afternoon." I heard Riley say. "Maybe we could do this again tomorrow?" he asked. "Yeah, I would like that." she said as she gave him a hug. I hid behind the tree so that she wouldn't see me. He watched her as she left and then he sat back down. I took a deep breath and walked over to him. "Jacob." I said as I walked up to him. "Lucas, what a surprise. I thought you were in New York." He said. "Yeah, I'm here for the summer with some friends." I said. "Oh that's cool. I actually just met a girl that's here for the summer as well." He said. "Would her name happen to be Riley?" I asked. "Yeah, how'd you know that?" he asked. "She's one of the friends that tagged along with me." I said. "Oh, she's amazing." He said. "I know, I'm the first boy she ever liked." I said. His eyes grew wide. "So, you were the guy she liked since 7th grade?" he asked. "She talked about me?" I asked.

"Yeah, she did." He said. "Wow, and to think I was going to come over here to kill you." I said. "What?" he asked. "Oh, nothing." I said. "Look, I don't know what really happened between us. But if I would've known that she was the girl you had a thing for I wouldn't have kissed her." he said. "No, if you knew she was the girl I had a thing for you still would've kissed her. I know you Jacob. But here's the thing, if you lay your little lips on Riley again, that will be the day you take your last breath. Riley is the best person I know and you are not. So you're going to do me a favor and stay away from her." I said as I walked away. "No." he said. I turned back around. "Excuse me?" I said. "I said no. Lucas, from the looks of it. She just wants to move on. I mean you had your chance with her. It's my turn." He said. "Jacob, I'm warning you. She's only here for the summer and I know the kind of guy you are. Stay away from her." I snarled. "No." he said as he walked away. I picked up a rock and I was about to throw it at him. But then I remembered that this is the Lucas that Riley didn't want back. I know she would stop me if she was here.

Riley's POV:

I walked back to the ranch to find Maya and Farkle sitting on th bench. I knew I couldn't avoid her this time. "Hey, Riles." Maya said. "Maya." I said briefly. I walked right into the house without saying another word to her. "Riley, I miss you." she said as she followed me in. "Well good for you." I said. "Riley, this is insane. I want my best friend back." She said. "I told you Maya. I need time." I said as I walked up the staircase. Maya walked back outside and took her place by Farkle again. I couldn't get myself to forgive them at all. I mean I know I should at least forgive Maya. But it's so hard. I don't know what to believe ro who to trust. I finally felt happy until I came back to the house. Maybe I needed to stay away from the ranch. But that wasn't an option for me.

The Next Day:

Riley's POV:

I woke up feeling refreshed this morning. Today I was going to hang out with Jacob again and hopefully, things will be better this time. All of a sudden, someone knocked on my door. "Come in." I said. "I know I'm the last person you want to see right now." Lucas said as he walked in. "What do you want Lucas?" I asked as I continued to put on my lip gloss. "I need to talk to you." he said. "If it's about you and me. There is no you and me." I said. "No, it's not about that and yes there is a you and me. I will prove it." he said. "You have two minutes." I said. "I know I'm probably overstepping when I say this, but I don't think you should hang out with Jacob." He said. "Only I decide that." I said. "He's bad news Riley. I used to be friends with the guy." He said. "I think I'll take my chances Lucas. I mean I took my chance with you." I said as I turned to face him. "Riley, I'm not saying this as the guy that's in love with you. I'm saying this as your friend. He's bad news." He said. Everything that Lucas said after he said he was in love with me blurred out. I knew Lucas loved me. But I didn't know he was in love with me.

Lucas's POV:

As soon as I realized I said I was in love with her, my body froze. She wasn't suppose to know yet. Way to go Friar. I thought to myself. Riley kept her eyes on me. She looked frozen as well. She didn't move or speak. Don't tell me I scared her. "Lucas, I think you should leave." She said trying to cover it up. "Fine." I said as I walked out of the room. If she wasn't going to listen to me, then I didn't know what else I could do. Except stop this little date she had with Jacob.

Riley's POV:

"Hey," I said as I met Jacob by the lake. "Riley, I'm glad you made it." he said. "I wouldn't want to miss spending a day with you." I said. "So, I thought we would have a picnic today." He said. "That sounds like a good idea." I said. He took my hand and we walked along the lake and onto a hill. The hill gave us a view of the entire lake, it gave us a view of the fields. It was breathtaking. We sat down and started to talk. He brought me some of my favorite foods and I don't know how he managed to do it. We were eating, and talking for about 20 minutes and then he leaned in and tried to kiss me. But I backed away. "Aww, are we having a picnic?" I heard someone say. I looked up to see Lucas standing there. "Lucas, what're you doing?" I said as I got up. "I can ask Jacob the same thing." He said. "Lucas, I told you I wasn't going to stay away." Jacob said as he got up. "I know you, Jacob." Lucas said. "Correction. You knew me." he said. "Riley, he may be putting on this sweet act for you right now. But he will play you." he said. "Oh, just like you did to me?" I said.

"Lucas, I would just leave if I were you. I mean, remember what happened with Carly." Jacob said as he got closer to me. I felt my anger take over again and without thinking this time, I punched him down to the ground. I took Riley by the hand and pulled her away. "Lucas, where are you taking me?" I asked. "You'll see." He said.

 _ **To be continued…**_

 **Wow, Lucas got a little crazy there. But I wonder where he's taking her… Be prepared for the next chapter xx**


	8. Chapter 8: So Are We Okay?

Chapter 8: So Are We Okay?

 _Previously on "Without Our Love"_

" _Lucas, I would just leave if I were you. I mean, remember what happened with Carly." Jacob said as he got closer to me. I felt my anger take over again and without thinking this time, I punched him down to the ground. I took Riley by the hand and pulled her away. "Lucas, where are you taking me?" I asked. "You'll see." He said._

Lucas's POV:

"Lucas, let me go!" she said. "No, there's something I want to show you." I said. I took Riley over to the horse stables again and I took out the white horse. "What're you doing?" she asked again. I got onto the white horse and stuck out my hand for her to take. Besides, taking my hand she crossed her arms. "I'm not getting on that horse with you." she said. "Oh, come on. I know you want to." I said. She started to walk out of the stables and I followed along on the horse. "Riley, will you please get on the horse." I said as I trotted along her side. "No." she said as she continued to walk. "Come on, I know you really want to." I said. "Lucas, no I don't. I don't want to get on a horse with you, I don't even want to forgive you." she said. As soon as those words came out of her mouth, I stopped the horse. "I know you don't mean that. I know you want to forgive me." I said. "No, I don't. I don't want to forgive the guy who broke my heart, I don't want to forgive the guy that kissed my best friend." She said as she walked away. I stayed right where I was. I didn't move at all. Maybe I really did lose Riley forever.

Riley's POV:

I didn't want to go back to the house. I didn't want to go back to the lake. But that was the only place where I did my best thinking. I walked to the gazebo where I saw Pappy Joe. Maybe I could talk to him. "Hey, Pappy Joe." I said as I sat down next to him. "Riley, how are you enjoying Texas?" he asked. "It was going pretty good." I said. "That's great. I'm glad you're here. Are you going to the town party tonight?" he asked. "I don't know if I want to go." I said. "And why not?" he said. "It's complicated." I said. "Talk to me." he said. "A couple days ago, we had a campfire and when I came out I saw Lucas give Maya a kiss. I don't know if I should forgive them." I said. "But you should forgive them. Well, at least forgive Maya." He said. "Why?" I asked. "Because if you don't forgive them, you're going to regret it later on. They're your best friends." He said. "But they hurt me." I said. "People make mistakes, Riley. Sometimes we hurt the people we never want to hurt. But we learn to forgive them because when your friends become family it makes it harder to live without them." he said. "I can't live without my best friend." I said. "Then don't. Forgive her, Riley." He said. "But what do I do about Lucas?" I asked. "That's up to you. But friendships are more important." He said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Don't let Lucas tear your friendship with Maya apart." He said.

"But what do I do about him?" I asked. "Riley, Lucas is crazy about you. Now I'm not just saying this because he's my grandson. But he really does care a lot about you. Every time I would talk on the phone with him, it would be Riley this or Riley that. He's very fond of you. You know I used to be with someone else before I met his grandmother. Her name was Beth. We were so in love. But unfortunately, she lost her life and I thought I could never love again. I thought I would never find true love again. But I did. When I met Lucas's grandma Grace, not only did I feel love again, I felt joy. I thanked her for what I never thought was possible. True love twice. I never believed in second chances until I met her. Second chances exist Riley, but it's up to you to take them. It's up you and Lucas to make it happen." He said. "But what if Lucas and I aren't right for each other?" I said. "That's up to you to decide. Do you think you two are right for each other?" he asked. "I thought we were." I said. "Looks like you have some more thinking to do." he said. "But whatever you decide to do, make sure you follow your heart." he said. "I will. Thank you, Pappy Joe." I said as I got up and gave him a hug. I walked back to the house and Maya was still sitting on the bench. I took her hand and we walked up to my room.

"I need to talk to you." I said as I sat down on my bed. "Okay," she said. "Maya, we've been best friends our whole lives, and there was a time where we let a guy come between us. It was Farkle. We almost let him come between us and ruin the best friendship on this planet. Now, I'm letting Lucas come between us because of my insecurities and my jealousy. But I shouldn't. Because our friendship is more important and I've been trying to figure out what to say to you. But all I can say is that we've been through so much together and yet you've remained by side through it all. I should do the same. I love you Maya, you're my best friend and I don't want to lose you. So, I forgive you." I said. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say those three words." she said as she wrapped her arms around me. "I've missed you." she said. "I've missed you too." I said, "No matter what happens Riley, I will always be here for you. You know that. Our friendship will never change." She said. "I hope not." I said as I put my head on her shoulder.

*The town party*

Riley's POV:

I put on a short white dress with a conservative top, then I put on black cowboy boots. I let my natural waves down and gave myself a natural look. This was it. I hope everything was going to go as planned and I hope I get my chance to tell Lucas that I love him. I wasn't going to be afraid anymore. There was nothing to be afraid of. Well, maybe the fact that he decided to move on from me, or he doesn't feel the same way anymore. But I was thinking crazy, I mean it's Lucas. "Riley, you ready to go?" Maya said as she walked through my door. "Wow, look at you." she said. "Me? Look at you." I said as I walked over and spun her around. I quickly reapplied some more lip gloss and then we headed off to the party.

Josh's POV:

I saw Maya and Riley leave for the party and they both looked absolutely amazing. "Oh, wait I forgot something." I heard Riley say as she ran back down upstairs. "Maya," I said as I walked out of the kitchen. "Oh, hey Josh." She said. "Haven't talked to you in for a while." I said as I walked up to her. "Yeah, it's been a couple of days." She said. Things felt so awkward between us. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that you look very gorgeous." I said. She smiled. "Thank you, Josh. You're not going to the party?" she asked. "Maybe in a little bit." I said. "Well, I'll see you there." she said. Riley finally came back downstairs and she noticed the awkwardness between Maya and I. "Hey, Josh I thought you were at the town party already." She said. "Oh, I'm going in a little bit." I said. "Oh, well see you there." she said. "Save me a dance?" he asked. "Of course." She said as she gave me a hug. They both walked out the door and I stayed right where I was. I had so much on my mind. I think it was finally time for me to be clear with my feelings.

Lucas's POV:

"Do you think Riley's coming?" I asked Farkle. "Hard to tell. But you looked pretty cleaned up. Why are you the only one in a suit?" he asked. "I wanted to show her that I could be her prince charming." I said. "Lucas just give it up." Farkle said. "No way." I said. "So, what happened with Jacob?" he asked. "I punched him while he was on a date with Riley." I said. "You did what?" he asked. "He was pissing me off and I wasn't thinking, okay. I just want Riley to forgive me." I said. "It's going to take her longer to forgive you now." Farkle said. All of a sudden, everything froze. Riley walked through the door and she looked like such an angel. "Wow." I said. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move. She looked absolutely breathtaking. Farkle turned around to see Riley. I put both of my hands on my cheeks and watched her as she continued to walk in. "Looks like she came," he said. "Yeah." I said like a love struck puppy. "Oh, boy." Farkle said. "Hey, Farkle." She said as she walked over to us. "Hey, Lucas." she said with a smile. "H-h-hi." I said. Oh god I sounded like stitch. Farkle gave me the weirdest look. "So you decided to come after all." Farkle said. "Yeah, I mean we all need a break from what's happened the last couple of days." She said. I slowly sank down into my seat.

"Lucas?" Riley said. I quickly looked up. "Yes?" I said. Hopefully I didn't sound too desperate. "Would you like to dance?" she asked. "I thought it was my job to ask." I said. "Well, I beat you to it." she said. She stuck out her hand and we walked over to the dance floor. "Hey there." I said as we started to slow dance. "Stop looking at me like that." she said as she blushed. "Nope. You look very beautiful tonight." I said. "Thank you." she said. "And I know I shouldn't be bringing this up." I said. "I might have a response." She said. "I know you think that we don't have a future together." I said. "But I do." she said.  
But Riley Matthews, you are just so wrong." I said. "I want to be with you, Lucas." she said. "No matter how long it takes for you to see that we belong together." I said. "I love you, Lucas." she said. "I'm going to prove that we do indeed have a future together." I said. "I forgive you." she said. "I'm not giving up on you." I said. "Lucas, did you not hear me?" she asked. "I want to be with you Riley and we will be together. Just you wait and see." I said.

Riley's POV:

There was something seriously wrong with Lucas, since he wasn't listening to anything I was saying. So I pinned him down to the ground. "Lucas, did you not just hear me?" I said. "Wait- did you just say you love me?" he asked. I nodded. "Yes, I did silly." I said. "Well, it was about time." he said. I helped him get up. "So, what does this mean for us?" he asked. "I don't know. What do you want this to mean?" I said. But before he could answer me, his dad interrupted. "Lucas, can I talk to you?" he asked. "I'll be right back." He said.

Lucas's POV:

"Lucas, I know that summer is almost over and there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about." My dad said. "What is it?" I asked as we sat down at the table. "When you moved to New York, I know that you missed being in Texas, you missed all your friends and the life you had here. But the life you had here wasn't good. You were sucked into bad habits." He said. "Okay, why are we having a flashback to the past?" I asked. "After a couple of months of being in New York, I noticed a change in the way you talked, the way you acted, you turned in the man I've always wanted you to be. I have Riley and her friends to thank for that. They changed you into a better person, especially Riley." He said. "Yeah, she did. But where is this going?" I asked. "I really admire how much you've changed as a man and every time you came back from New York, you stayed out of bad habits because you have them in your life now. I was wondering if you would consider coming back here and starting your senior year right here in Texas. Where you belong." He said. "What? You want me to move back to Texas?" I asked. "I do, it's ultimately up to you. But I know you've been homesick and moving back to Texas would be the cure." He said. "So you really want me to move back to Texas?" I asked. "Well, yes. I think it would be better for you now because I've seen all the drama that's been going on. Maybe it's best if you stayed here." He said. I was shocked. I mean Riley finally forgave me and she told me she loved me. How could I stay here?

 **UH OH. Will Lucas's dad convince him to stay in Texas? Or will he follow his heart and go back to New York with the gang? Find out in the next chapter xx**


	9. Chapter 9: Can't Live Without You

Chapter 9: Can't Live Without You

 _Previously on "Without Our Love"_

" _What? You want me to move back to Texas?" I asked. "I do, it's ultimately up to you. But I know you've been homesick and moving back to Texas would be the cure." He said. "So you really want me to move back to Texas?" I asked. "Well, yes. I think it would be better for you now because I've seen all the drama that's been going on. Maybe it's best if you stayed here." He said. I was shocked. I mean Riley finally forgave me and she told me she loved me. How could I stay here?_

Josh's POV:

I walked down to the town hall and as soon as I walked through the doors, the first person I looked for was Maya. Where could she be? I thought to myself. "Hey guys." I said as I walked over to Riley and Farkle. "Hey, you came." Farkle said. "Yeah, have you seen Maya? I need to talk to her." I said. "Oh, she's hanging out with Cletus over there." Riley said as she pointed over the corner of the room. I saw Maya chatting and laughing with a very good looking guy. "Who is Cletus?" I asked. "Oh, a friend of Zay and Lucas's. They met a couple of days ago." Farkle said. "Would it be wrong if I went over there and stole her from him?" I asked. Farkle and Riley smiled. "Nope." They said. "Go get her." Riley said.

Riley's POV:

"This is so exciting." I said as I shook Farkle. "Maya is finally going to get her happy ending." He said. "Have you seen Lucas?" I asked. "No, the last time I saw him he was sitting with his dad talking. Then he got up and left." He said. "But he told me he was coming back." I said. "Riley, don't worry. His dad probably said something that made him tense. He probably needed some air. He'll be back." Farkle said. "I want to go find him but I haven't really spent time with you that much since we've been here." I said. "Riley, go. But you owe me a dance when you get back." He said. "Sounds like a plan." I said as I walked out to go find Lucas.

Lucas's POV:

I needed to get some fresh air. I couldn't be in that room anymore. So I walked down to the park and sat near the pond. I didn't know what to do. I mean I've missed Texas so much, it will always be home. But New York is my home now. I can't leave. Especially since it's my senior year, I want to graduate with Riley, Farkle and Maya, They are my best friends. But I feel maybe things wouldn't be the same after all the drama that has happened. Maybe it was best if I stayed in Texas. "Lucas, there you are." Riley said. I turned around to find her standing there. "Oh, sorry I just needed some air." I said as I got up. "Is everything okay?" she asked. "It is now." I said as I pulled her into a hug and rested my chin on the top of her head. "Lucas, what's going on?" she asked as she looked up to me. I looked down at her beautiful face. Her brown eyes popping out, it made her look like a puppy. "Did something happen with your dad?" she asked. "Yeah," I said. I knew that it would be difficult to tell her. "What happened?" she asked. "I don't really want to talk about it right now. I just want to enjoy this moment with you." I said. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm sure." I said as I held onto her tighter. "Okay." She said as she rested her head on my chest.

Josh's POV:

"Wow, I didn't know you had it in you." I heard Maya said. "Yeah, after I got off the bull I got into big trouble by my parents." I heard him say. I cleared my throat and Maya immediately turned around. "Josh." She said. "Maya, Maya's friend." I said. "The names Cletus." He said as he shook my hand. "Maya, can I talk to you in private?" I asked. "Sure." She said. I took her by the hand and we walked over to the dance floor. They were playing Crazier by Taylor Swift. "What is it? Josh?" she asked as we slow danced. "I was jerk to you and you didn't deserve it at all. I've known you for so long now and I never imagined us being here right in this moment." I said. "What do you mean?" she asked. "I mean I never imagined myself loving you are more than just a friend." I said. "What?" she said. "You told me that I needed to admit my feelings for you and figure out what I wanted and what I want is you, Maya Hart. I want to be with you. I don't care about the age difference, I don't care about how hard it's going to be. I used to be a boy that didn't know what love really was. Until I saw you again, seeing how gorgeous you grew up and how much you've grown. I didn't realize that I was falling for you all these years. But I did and I am falling for you each and every day. It's you, Maya. You're the one I want to be with." I said. Maya had the biggest smile on her face. She started giggling. "Joshua Matthews, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment." she said as she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me.

We continued to dance with the biggest smiles on our faces. I couldn't stop kissing her. "You're so beautiful." I said in between kisses. "Maybe we'll grow older together." she said. "Looks like we're in it for the long game." I said.

Riley's POV:

We heard Crazier playing through the town and Lucas and I were dancing along. He twirled me around and dipped me. We couldn't stop smiling at each other, we couldn't stop laughing. These were one of the moments that we were going to remember forever. "And dip." He said as he dipped me. "So, should we head back inside after this?" he asked. "I think we should." I said. After the song finished, we walked back inside, holding hands. Once we got inside, Josh, Maya and Farkle were all smiling at us. I saw that Josh was holding Maya's hand and that could only mean one thing. They finally became an item. "Well, I'm assuming you two made up." I said to Josh and Maya. "Yeah, we did." Maya said as she leaned over and kissed Josh. "Well, I couldn't be happier. But please do not make me call you my aunt." I said. "Nope, you don't have to call me your aunt, my little…niece." She said with a smile. "Oh boy," I said as I sat down. "What about you two? Are you two an item now?" she asked. I looked at Lucas and he looked like he didn't know what to say. "We haven't really discussed that yet." I said. "Oh my god, well go over there and discuss it because we do not want a repeat of the eighth grade." Farkle said.

But of course, we got interrupted by his dad again. "Lucas, can I steal you for another minute?" He said as he walked over to us. "Bad timing, dad." Lucas said. "Oh, come on. There's some people I want you to meet." He said. Lucas walked over to a group of people with his dad and left me with the others. "This is the second time his dad has interrupted us, before we could talk about us." I said. "I'm sorry." Farkle said. "Riley, you still owe me a dance." Josh said. "Well, you haven't asked me properly to dance yet." I said. "Riley Matthews, may I have this dance?" Josh said. "I thought you'd never ask." I said as we got up and made our way over to the dance floor.

Maya's POV:

"You're glowing." Farkle said. "You know, I thought that whatever Josh had to say to me, I would try to avoid it. But I didn't. I ended up giving in because I liked the things he was saying to me. Everything that happened these past couple of days seemed to just disappear." I said. "You really love him, don't you?" he asked. "Yeah, I do." I said. "Maya, what was that?" Cletus said as he walked up to me. "Excuse me?" I asked. "Why were you kissing that guy?" he asked. "Cletus, I don't owe you any explanation at all." I said. "What about our summer romance?" he asked. "I didn't know you were serious about that. I thought I was just building a new friendship." I said. "Well, I guess I was the only one that thought of this as more than just a friendship." He said as he walked away. "Was I being too harsh?" I asked Farkle. "Who cares, you have Josh now." he said.

Riley's POV:

"So, you and Lucas?" Josh asked. "What about me and Lucas?" I asked. "What are you guys?" he asked. "We didn't really get to discuss that like I said. Because every time we would his dad would pop up." I said. "I haven't really talked to him since the whole campfire incident. But I will." He said. "Thank you." I said. "I just hope he doesn't hurt you again." Josh said. "I don't think he will." I said. "You never know." Josh said. "Josh, if I can be happy for you and Maya, will you please just be happy for me and Lucas right now?" I asked. "Fine." Josh said. Josh and I finished our dance and went back over to the group. Lucas was stuck with his dad the rest of the night so we didn't really get a chance to talk at all.

The Next Day:

Lucas had been acting weird to me all morning. I mean I finally told him that I loved him and he was just acting so strange to me. We were all getting ready to go to another rodeo. But it looked like it was going to rain so I decided to bring extra ponchos. "Ready to go? Farkle asked as he knocked on my door. "Yup, yup." I said as we walked downstairs. "Let's go to a rodeo!" Maya said as she took Josh by the hand and we all walked out to the truck. "I'm still waiting to see that video." I said to Lucas. He gave me a soft smile. "I don't know." he said. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said.

Lucas was being quiet the whole time we were there and I didn't know why. Could it be because of me? Or maybe it was something his dad said to him to last night. "Riley?" he said. "Yes?" I said. "There's something I need to tell you." he said. We walked out of the stadium and over to an isolated area with another lake view. "What is it, Lucas?" I asked as we sat down. "I don't know how to tell you this. This is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make." He said as he struggled to get his words out. "What's wrong?" I asked. "It's my dad." He said. "What about your dad?" I asked. He stayed silent. "Lucas?" I said. "Do you remember how I got kicked out of my old school and my dad made me move here?" he asked. "Yes, I do." I said. "Well, we were talking last night and he likes how much I've changed and he likes how much you've changed me but…." He said. "But what?" I said. Lucas looked down to the ground and I could see the pain all over his face. "He wants me to move back here, permanently. He wants me to stay here for my senior year." he said. "What? You said no right?" I asked. Lucas struggled to look up at me. "You didn't, did you?" I asked as I lowered my voice. "After everything that happened between us, maybe it is best if I stay here." he said. "What? No, Lucas I forgave you. I told you I love you and I meant it. Why would you want to stay?" I asked. "Because what if we go back and things are just awkward between you, me, Maya and Farkle." He said.

"It won't be." I said. "You don't know that." he said, "What about graduation? We were all going to graduate together. What about Farkle and Maya? What about me? What about us? What about your moment?" I asked. "I'll be back to visit." He said. "That's not good enough. Answer my question. What about us? What about your moment?" I asked again. "My moment?" he asked. "Yes, your moment. Remember?" I asked. "You don't do you?" I asked. "I do. But things have changed." He said. "Things have changed? No, things have not changed. This is middle school all over again. We tell each other how we feel and then one of us runs away. Why is that?" I asked. "Maybe our timing is off." he said. "Our timing was never off. Besides, the fact that the entire student body made us date out of pressure. Our timing was never off but I think our feelings for each other were." I said. Lucas couldn't even look at me. "So that's just it huh? You're just going to walk away from everything you built in New York? All the friendships, you're going to throw away all the memories?" I asked. Lucas scooted closer to me and put his arm around me. "You told me you were going to have your moment, you told me you liked me, you told me I was princess." I said as I started to tear up. "Riley, we'll see each other again." he said. "Oh we are? So you're going to come back and expect everything to be the same again?" I asked. This time I couldn't hold my tears in and I had to let it out. Lucas pulled me into a hug.

"Don't touch me. Everything you told me was a lie, wasn't it?" I asked. "No, it wasn't." he said. "Then why are you staying? You know what hurts? You told me you changed, I don't see it anymore." I said. "Riley, don't say that. I'm still me." he said. "Why would you want to stay in Texas, if you got sucked into bad habits here? I don't want you to stay because I'm afraid that side of you is going to come back. I mean I saw what you did to Jacob." I said. "It's not going to come back." He said. "Lucas, how do you know it's not going to come back?" I asked. "Because I have you in my life and I always will." He said. "Riley, I'm going to come back." He said. "You know, I'm not so sure I trust you anymore. Remember at the election when I asked you, if you were going to go back to Texas for the weekend and do you know what you said? You said you were home." I said. Lucas finally looked in my eyes and I could see the redness, and how teary his eyes were. I could see the pain. I took Lucas's arms off of me and walked back into the stadium. I needed my best friend. Lucas stayed right where he was, he put his head down and the clouds started rolling in. Then it started to rain and Lucas sat there in the rain. Heart broken.

 **As you all know, my stories always have some sort of happy ending. But anyways, the Riley and Lucas story is not over! But Joshaya finally happened! Yay! But prepare yourself for the next chapter. The Riley and Lucas conversation isn't over just yet. It gets more dramatic. Stay tuned for chapter ten xx**


	10. Chapter 10: This is Goodbye

Chapter 10: This is Goodbye

Riley's POV:

I walked back into the stadium, with tear stains from my eyes. I could barely walk, my heart had just been shattered all over again. I felt like I was going to fall over any minute. Maya was the first one to notice. "Riley, what's wrong?!" she asked as she ran over to me. She caught me before I was about to fall down to the ground. "Is she okay?!" Josh said as he joined Maya's side. Farkle soon came after. They took me out of the stadium and to the food court tables. My world was black again. My heart was destroyed. The one I love, broke my heart once again. Why did I let him do this to me? "Lucas." I managed to get out. "What happened?!" Maya asked. "There's no happy ending for us." I said. "What did he do?!" Josh asked. He was furious. Farkle came over with a bottle of water and I took a couple sips before I was able to talk about what had just happened. They all gathered around the table. "Lucas's dad wants him to move back to Texas and he agreed to it. I thought we meant so much to him." I said. "Why does he want to stay in Texas?" Farkle asked. "Because he thinks it's going to be awkward with everything that we have been through this summer. You know the kiss, the drama that followed." I said. "It's not going to be awkward. Lucas and I went back to being the type of friends we were before the kiss happened. It's not going to be awkward." Maya said.

"But what about you guys? What about last night?" Josh asked. "I guess it didn't mean as much as it did to me. I mean he said he was going to come down to visit but I told him it wouldn't be the same." I said. "Where is he?" Farkle asked. "He's probably sitting outside." I said. "In the rain?" Maya asked. "Probably." I said. "I'm going to go talk to him." Farkle said as he walked out.

Farkle's POV:

I walked out into the rain and I saw Lucas sitting with his head down on the bench. "Lucas, what're you doing it's raining out here?" I asked. Lucas remained in his spot. He shook his head. "I don't care." He said. "What happened?" I asked. "Why are you even talking to me?" he snapped. "What?" I asked. "Shouldn't you be mad at me for staying in Texas?" he asked. "Lucas, I'm still your friend no matter what you decide to do." I said. He looked at me and then looked back down. "Just when things are going good, something like this always has to happen." He said. "But see you had decisions this time, and you chose to stay in Texas." I said. "You already know why I'm choosing to stay in Texas." He said. "I do, but what I don't understand is why." I said. "Riley may have forgiven me for what I did. But I still haven't been able to forgive myself for it. I don't think I could ever forgive myself for hurting her." he said. "So why didn't you tell her that? And can we get out of the rain? Because I don't want to get sick." I said. We got up and walked to the truck. "I couldn't tell her that, it was already difficult enough to tell her that I was staying." He said as we got into the truck.

Riley's POV:

"I don't know why I'm acting this way." I said. "Because you love him." Maya said. "Were in high school, we shouldn't even know what love is. Maybe this is just lust." I said. "It's not lust Riley, I know love when I see it. "Maya said. "All Lucas and I have been doing is waste time. We're juniors in high school. I thought when I forgave him I thought we were going to become diamonds. But we just became dust. So maybe there isn't a happy ending for me and Lucas." I said. "Don't think like that Riley." Maya said. "There is a happy ending for you two." She said. "How do you know that?" I asked. "Because I know you and Lucas. You guys always overcome every obstacle that is thrown your way and you always come out stronger." She said. "I just want to go home." I said. "4 more days, kid. Just hang in there." Josh said.

Lucas's POV:

"So you're staying in Texas because you've broken Riley's heart enough?" Farkle asked. "Yes." I said. "Lucas, you're breaking her heart by staying in Texas. She had her heart set on all four of us graduating together. She had her heart set on you." Farkle said. "On me?" I asked. "Yes, on you. You told her you were worth it. Prove it." Farkle said. Before I could say anything else, Riley, Maya and Josh got into the truck. "Well the rodeo got cancelled because of the rain." Maya said, "Looks like were all staying in tonight." Josh said. I looked at Riley through the rear view mirror, my heart ached. She just stared out the window and didn't even bother to talk. I didn't blame her. I continued to focus on the road as we drove back to the ranch. No one talked. All you could hear was the sound of the rain, sad songs on the radio. It was over. Everyone's story was over. Except for two.

Riley's POV:

Once we reached the ranch, I quickly got out of the car, walked right upstairs and closed my bedroom door. I went into bed and brought my knees up to chin, I put my head down and cried. I cried as hard as I could, but my cry was silent. Like it's always been. I heard everyone's bedroom door close. There was sadness building up in the air. I pulled myself together and laid down. I pulled out the plaid shirt that Lucas gave me when we got into a mud fight the day before the whole campfire incident. I smelled it and it smelled just like him. I held it close to me and forced myself to sleep so that I can avoid the pain of today.

The next morning, I woke up to complete silence again. I didn't even bother to go downstairs. I stayed in the room. I didn't eat or talk to anyone. The only time I left my room was to use the bathroom. After a few hours of laying, in bed reading. I looked over at the clock and it was already 2pm. "Riley?" Maya said as she knocked on my door. I stayed right where I was. I didn't want to see anyone. "Ring power." She said as she knocked again. I rolled my eyes and opened the door. "Well good morning, sunshine." She said as she walked in and closed the door. "Lock it." I said. She locked it and walked over and sat on my bed. "Haven't seen you all morning, I brought you some food." She said as she held up a plate of pancakes, with eggs, sausage and bacon on the side. "Breakfast in the afternoon?" I asked. "Well you haven't stepped foot out of the room and the guys were pigs." She said. "Thank you." I said as I took the plate from her.

"So how are you feeling?" she asked. "Like how I'm always feeling. Numb." I said. "Aww honey, don't let this affect the rest of your summer. Don't spend the rest of summer hung up on Lucas." she said. "Maya, were still in Texas. I have no choice." I said. "Were in Texas but you don't need to be around him. Come on, get dressed. Let's have a Riley and Maya day." she said. "I don't know…" I said as I put the plate on my dresser. "Ah, ah, ah. Yes we are." Maya said as she pulled me up. "But I just want to stay in today, I mean it's raining outside." I said. Maya looked out the window. "When did that happen?" she asked. "Fine. We can stay inside. Do you have your laptop?" she asked. "I do." I said as I pulled it out. "Let's watch a movie." She said. "Ooh the notebook." She said. "No." I said. "Um, the Best of Me?" she asked. "No." I said. "The titanic?" she asked. "Are you trying to kill me?" I asked. "Okay, what about mean girls?" she asked. "No. That has a love story as well." I said. "John Tucker Must Die." She said. "Yes." I said immediately. "That has a happy ending too." She said. "Yeah, but they try to kill him first." I said with a smile. "Alright." She said as she played the movie.

Three days later:

Lucas's POV:

The last three days flew by so fast and Riley never spoke a single word to me the whole time. I just wanted to hear her voice again. It was killing me. I mean I heard her laughter when she was chatting with someone and that someone wasn't me. I feel like I'm making a big mistake staying in Texas. But this was for the best. I went downstairs to say goodbye to everyone but Riley was nowhere in sight. "Don't lose touch, Lucas." Maya said as she gave me a hug. "Don't worry, I won't." I said. "I hope this isn't the last of you." Farkle said as he gave me a hug. "It's not and you know it." I said. "Where's Riley?" I asked. Farkle shook his head. "She doesn't want to see you." he said. "But I want to say goodbye." I said. "I'll tell her you did." He said. "Okay." I said. I walked out to the porch and I watched my dad pull out of the ranch and drove them off to the airport. "Bye Riley." I said to myself as I walked back inside.

Riley's POV:

I knew it was wrong of me to not say goodbye to Lucas. But I just couldn't face him again. We almost reached the town and the guilt was coming over me. "Stop the car!" I yelled. Lucas's dad stepped on the brakes. "What is it?" Maya asked. "I didn't get to say goodbye to Lucas." I said. His dad smiled and nodded at me and he turned the car back around. He parked the car outside of the ranch once we got there. I walked up to the house and knocked on the door. Lucas opened the door and his entire face lit up. "Riley." He said trying not to smile.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	11. Chapter 11: Don't Let This Be Over

Chapter 11: Don't Let This Be Over

 _Previously on "Without Our Love"_

 _I knew it was wrong of me to not say goodbye to Lucas. But I just couldn't face him again. We almost reached the town and the guilt was coming over me. "Stop the car!" I yelled. Lucas's dad stepped on the brakes. "What is it?" Maya asked. "I didn't get to say goodbye to Lucas." I said. His dad smiled and nodded at me and he turned the car back around. He parked the car outside of the ranch once we got there. I walked up to the house and knocked on the door. Lucas opened the door and his entire face lit up. "Riley." He said trying not to smile._

Riley's POV:

"What're you doing here? I thought you left." He said. "I'm still upset with you, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. Half way to the airport I realized that I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to you." I said. Lucas stepped out onto the porch and he pulled me into a hug. He rested his chin on top of my head, while I rested my head onto his chest. It was still raining out and I wouldn't be surprised if I caught a cold from this. "Don't do that." I said after he kissed me on the forehead. I released myself from him. I took both of his hands and held them. "I have to leave now. So goodbye, Lucas." I said as I let go of his hands.

I started walking to the car when all of sudden Lucas ran after me. "Riley, wait!" he said as he stopped in the middle of the pathway. It was starting to rain a little harder. "Lucas, I have to leave." I said. "Don't." he said. I looked at him and I couldn't seem to get any words out. We stood there in the pouring rain and really looked at each other.

Maya's POV:

"What do you think's going on?" I asked as Josh, Farkle and I tried to get a view of Riley and Lucas from the car. "Do you think their making out?" Farkle asked. "Farkle, I'm right here." his dad said. "Aren't going to be late for our flight?" Josh asked. "We got time." his dad said. "Guys, their just standing there staring at each other." His dad said. We all jumped over to the front of the car but that didn't work out so well because Farkle got stuck between the driver and passenger seat, while Josh was on top, along with me. "This is really uncomfortable." I said. "I'm sorry babe, but this the only way were going to get a view of them" Josh said. "Why aren't they talking? Or moving?" Farkle asked. "Did the rainstorm turn into an ice storm?" I asked. "Ask Elsa." Farkle said. "Are you thinking about frozen?" I asked. "Yeah, I love that movie." He said. "So do I. That prince was a jerk though." I said. "I know I wanted to throw my popcorn at the screen." He said. "I know so did I!" I said. "But it was a good movie." Farkle said. "That was a good movie, Olaf is adorable." I said. "He is adorable," Farkle said. "Guys! Riley and Lucas!" Josh yelled. "Right!" Farkle and I said at the same time.

Riley's POV:

"Don't what?" I asked. "Don't leave, or say goodbye. Because if you do, it's like I'm never going to see you again or hear from you again." he said. "So you're putting my words in your mouth now? I asked. "No I-." he said. "Lucas, stop. You gave me so much hope. You made me believe that you were actually worth it. You told me you were worth it!" I said. "I'm still worth it, Riley." He said. "Try were." I said. "Are we really going to do this again?" he asked. "I guess we are. You were worth it Lucas, because if you still are, you wouldn't have broken our trust and most of all you wouldn't have broken my heart over and over again." I said. "I'm sorry." He said. "That's all you have to say? I'm sorry?" I said. "Riley, you don't understand." He said. "Save it, Lucas. I came here to say goodbye and that's it." I said.

"See this. This is why I'm staying. I always end up breaking your heart and I don't want to do it anymore. You don't deserve this." he said. "But see every time you broke my heart, I always came crawling back somehow. Because I love you. I thought we were going to be diamonds one day. But no. We just turned into dust." I said. Lucas started to get frustrated. "No, we will be diamonds one day. I'll be back for you. Riley. Why are you giving up on us? Please don't give up on us!" he yelled.

Maya's POV:

"Wow. Lucas looks frustrated." I said as we watched them. "If only we had popcorn." Josh said. "Guys, they should really get out of the rain. They're both going to get sick." Farkle said. "I'm the one that's going to have to heal a heart broken Lucas while you three have to take care of heart broken, Riley." His dad said. "I wonder what their saying." I said. "I would lower the window and move the car closer. But that would be too obvious." His dad said. "We'll just ask Riley." I said.

Lucas's POV:

"You never give up on anyone! Why are you giving up on us?!" I asked. "Because you already did." She said. "What? No I haven't. If I did, we wouldn't be out here in the rain. I wouldn't be trying to fight for us." I said. "I'm sorry, Lucas." she said as she walked back to the car. I stood there out in the rain and watched the car drive away again. I stood there as a broken man.

Once I was able to pull myself together, I walked back inside the house. I slammed the door behind me and slid my back down the door. I threw the box that I had for Riley to the wall and tears started to fall down my cheeks.

Maya's POV:

The car ride was so awkward. Riley caught us spying on them when she got to the car. She caught us because we were stuck between the seats and it took us a minute to get out. Riley's whole face was puffy. I wanted to say something but I didn't think she wanted to be bothered at the moment. We finally reached the airport and we all grabbed our luggage and said goodbye to Lucas's dad. Riley linked her arm with mine and we walked to the front desk.

The whole plane ride was pretty peaceful, we watched movies and talked about what had happened. Then we fell asleep. A few hours later our plane had finally landed in New York, it was midnight already. So Farkle, Josh, Riley and I all grabbed our luggage and we all held each other's hand. Together, we walked the streets of New York. New York wasn't as busy tonight. Which was weird because no matter what time it was the streets were always busy.

One week later:

"Riley Matthews, we are officially seniors now!" Maya yelled as her and Farkle walked through the door. "This is the last year we will be kings." Farkle said. "It's not going to be the same without Lucas." I said. "Riley, who cares about him now. There plenty of guys out there for you. I mean Charlie still wants a chance with you. Why not go for him?" she asked. "I don't want to go for him because he's not Lucas." I said. "Riley, Lucas is not coming back." Maya said. Farkle nudged her and shook his head. "Don't say that." he whispered. "How do you know he's not coming back?" I said. "Because when people say that their coming back, they usually end up not coming back at all. It's time to move on." Maya said. "I guess you're right." I said as I grabbed my backpack and we headed off to the school.

 **This chapter was a little short. But anyways, you have not seen the last of Lucas! So don't stop reading! Chapter 12 is coming up xx**


	12. Chapter 12: Vows

Chapter 12: Vows

Riley's POV:

Senior year has been going okay, but a part of me was still wishing that Lucas was here to spend it with us. We were already half way through our senior year, it seemed to be flying by so fast. "Hey, beautiful." Charlie said as he walked up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Hey," I said. "What's the matter? Not happy to see your boyfriend today?" he asked. "Of course, I'm happy to see you. I'm just not in a good mood today." I said. "I understand. I know the perfect cure." He said. "Chocolate cake?" I asked. "Yes." He said. Now if it was Lucas, he would do everything in his power to see me smile again. He wouldn't just give me a piece of chocolate cake.

"Aww, look at my two love birds." Maya said as she walked up to us. "So, Charlie you were going to get me a piece of chocolate cake?" I asked. "Yeah, I'll be right back." He said. "Usually when you send him off to do something that's code for you need to talk about him." Maya said. "Maya, I'm not happy. I still have feelings for Lucas and I feel like I'm just dragging Charlie along." I said. "Riley, Lucas is old news now. You have to move on. Charlie loves you." she said. "But I don't love him." I said. "It'll take you some time." she said. "Maya, I think I'm just going to end it." I said. "No, don't." she said. "And why not?" I asked. "Because you just shouldn't." she said. "Maya, I'm breaking up with him. Either you accept my decision or I'm just going to assume that you're dragging Josh along until Lucas comes back." I said. "Riley, now you're just being insane. I'm just saying you shouldn't. It's only been a month. Relationships take time to grow." She said. "Fine, I'll give it another month. But I still think I shouldn't." I said.

After school, I went home to get ready for the family dinner. It was my parent's anniversary tonight and my dad wanted us all to be there. "Riley, come help set up." My mom said. "Alright," I said as I walked over to her. "Hello weirdos." Maya said as she skipped through the door. "Mr. Matthews, you're looking good." she said. "Why thank you, Maya." He said. "He doesn't know about Josh yet, does he?" Maya asked. "Not a clue." I said. "Hey, kiddies." Josh said as he walked through the door. "Uncle Boing." Maya said as she ran over and wrapped her arms around him. "Hold on." My dad said as he walked up to them. "What is this?" he asked. "What is what?" Josh said as he kept his arm around Maya's waist. "When did this? NO!" My dad said as he started to freak out. "Is she going to be my sister in law?" he asked. "I like to think so." Josh said as he gave Maya a kiss. "NO!" my dad said as he threw Josh over his shoulder and ran upstairs. "Well, you can tell my dad loves you two together." I said as I walked up to her. "He'll get over it." she said. "I hope so." I said.

After the whole family had arrived, we all sat around for dinner. "Topanga, thank you for making us this wonderful dinner." my grandma said. "Thank you," she said. "I'll see you all in the hospital." She said as she dug in. My mom rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you'll be fine." She said. "So, Riley. We never got to hear about Texas. How was it?" my grandma asked. Maya, Josh and I exchanged looks. "It was good." I said as I played with my food. "Oh no, something happened." My grandma said. "The only thing that happened was Lucas staying in Texas because he was just very homesick." I said. Maya and Josh frowned at each other. "Are you sure that's all that happened?" my dad asked. Maya, Farkle, and Josh were the only ones that knew what happened in Texas. "Yes, I'm sure." I said as I kept my eyes on my food. "Okay." My dad said. After dinner, we all helped clean up and we went to the couch to chat.

"Riley, can I talk to you in private?" my grandma asked. "Sure," I said as we got up. "Let's go to your room." she said as she gestured me upstairs. Once we got to my room, she sat down on my bed. I walked over and sat down by the bay window and I patted the seat next to me. "Really?" she asked. I nodded my head. "Okay." She said as she walked over to me. "Riley, my dear. What really happened in Texas? You know you can talk to me about anything." She said. "Lucas kissed Maya then this whole drama unfolded Lucas and Maya tried to get me to forgive them but I didn't until the day of the town party. When I told Lucas that I forgave him, I told I loved him as well and it felt like we were just two teens in love that night but then his dad pulled him to the side and talked him into staying in Texas for his senior year. I didn't like it all because he got my hopes up and I thought that there was going to be a happy ending for us. But I guess not." I said. My grandma pulled me into a hug. "Oh, my Riley. It's alright. I know you guys will be diamonds one day." she said. "How can you be so sure?" I asked. "I just know. But what about Charlie? You two seem so happy." She said. "Charlie's the only happy one." I said.

"Riley, if you're not happy. Then you have to leave him. Don't drag him along." She said. "That's what I said to Maya but she told me I should stay with him." I said. "Don't listen to what Maya says. Follow your heart. Don't let Maya tell you what to do about Charlie or even about Lucas." she said. "Do you love Lucas?" she asked. "I do." I said. "Then try one more time. Because after days of storms, comes days of sun." she said. Right when she said that, I started to have flashbacks. _"Hi, we were just talking about you. You used to go out with my friend." I said after I fell onto his lap. "I'm Lucas." he said. "I love it." I said. "Even though this just happened, there are moments in life that you know you're going to remember forever. This is one of them." Lucas said. "You know those moments that you were talking about that we were going to remember forever?" I asked. "Yeah" he said. Before I knew it, I leaned it and gave Lucas a kiss and once we pulled apart he gave me the biggest smile._

" _And you know what that is not what a true fan is, if you're going to be in the garden you better represent Knicks!" I said. Lucas stared at me for a moment. "I really like you, Riley." He said. "And were not going to hurt that because you guys want us to be something were not, so go back to your own lives because nobody is moving too fast here." I said. "I like you, I went on my first date with you. Do you think it's right to let me like you without telling me who you are." I said. "You know who I am. I'm Ranger Rick, we rode on a white horse. I asked your father's permission just to go on a date with you. Who does that?" he asked._

" _Lucas, you were the first boy I ever liked. That's a big deal for me. Are you worth it? Tell me and I'll believe you. I want to believe you. Are you worth it?" I asked. "Yes." He said. "I used to be different than I am now." He said. "What happened?" I asked. "I came here." he said. "Your transfer script." I said. "I'd rather be reminded of when something good started." He said. "Lucas." I said. He nervously got up. "I'll get you." I said. "Thank you." he said with a smile. "You know, they call me mad dog." He said. "Of course they do." I said as I wiped his face. "Would you call me mad dog?" he asked. "Would you call me princess dancing sunshine?" I asked. "No I would not." He said. "Well there you go." I said "And you are a complete ray of sunshine." Lucas said. "Charlie, you may not know this but Riley and I kind of have an unofficial thing going here." Lucas said._

"I'm sorry to interrupt." My dad said as he walked through my door. "What is it, Cory?" my grandma asked. "I need you guys downstairs for something." He said. We both got up and followed him downstairs. "Alright everyone, I have something to say." My dad said as we all sat down. "Topanga, would you come here please?" he asked.

Cory's POV:

"What is it Cory?" she asked. "We have been together for more than 20 years now, and I want to thank you again, for blessing me with a beautiful home, and a beautiful family. When we got married, it wasn't really our wedding because Eric made us steal someone else's venue and we ended up getting arrested for it. We have made so many memories together and we always create new ones each and every day. I love you, Topanga and I want to renew our vows. No, wait that's not the proper way to do this." I said as I got down on one knee. "Topanga Matthews, will you marry me again?" I asked. "Anytime you want." She said. Everyone clapped for us. "Shawn, will you be my best man again?" I asked. "Anytime." He said as he gave me a hug.

"Riley, you can be the flower girl." My dad said. "No, Riley you can be the maid of honor." Topanga said as she put her arm around Riley. "I would be honored." She said.

 **Okay, so I'm going to fast forward through their senior year. I won't really go into much detail about that. But anyways, be prepared for the upcoming chapters. It's about to get a little interesting. xx**


	13. Chapter 13: Soulmates

Chapter 13: Soulmates

Riley's POV:

Everyone has a soulmate. That's what I believe. I'm still too young to figure out who my soulmate is. But then again maybe I'm not. My dad knew the minute he met my mom that she was his soulmate. I thought I knew who my soulmate was. But things happen for a reason. I was wedding dress shopping with my mom, and it got me thinking. Who is my soulmate? Did I already meet him? What if my soulmate was Lucas? But that would be crazy because he would be right here with me, if he was. I have been keeping everything bottled up from Texas. Just talking and thinking about it was just too painful.

"Okay. What do you think about this dress?" my mom asked as she walked out in the fourth wedding dress. "It's very silk and simple." I said. "So it's too sexy?" she asked. "It's sexy enough." I said. "Do you think your father will love it?" she asked. "Mom, dad loves you in anything." I said. "I need to try on a different dress. No more ball gowns. This is a simple vow renewal." She said. "Mom, you're going to look absolutely beautiful," I said. "I'm paying you to say that so of course you say that." she said as she went back into the dressing room. "And even if you weren't. I would still say you look beautiful mom." I said.

After we looked at more wedding dresses, my mom and I went to grab something to eat. "So, Riley. How are things with you?" she asked. "I broke it off with Charlie." I said. "What? Why?" she asked. "I just wasn't happy." I said. "Riley, what happened with Lucas?" she asked. "Nothing." I said as I looked at the menu. "Riley." My mom said. "Mom, I don't want to talk about it." I said. "Riley, you've been shutting us out ever since you got back. What is going on?" she asked. "Mom, like I said I just don't want to talk about it. Lucas stayed in Texas and Josh, Maya, Farkle and I came back to New York. That's it." I said. "You didn't like the fact that Lucas stayed, did you?" she asked. "For the last time mom, we are not talking about this. We are planning your wedding." I said. "You can't keep these feelings in, Riley." She said. "I'm going to do what I want." I said. "Riley, I know you're heart broken. But don't push away the ones who love you and care for you." she said. "Mom, can we please just plan your wedding. I don't want to talk about it." I said

*A few months later*

Riley's POV:

"It's graduation day!" I yelled as I skipped out of my room. "Our little girl is graduating high school today." My dad said. He suddenly started feeling dizzy. "Oh dear." He said. "Dad!" I yelled as I caught him before he hit the floor. "Are you alright?" I asked as I helped him up. "Okay, well it's almost 5 so I'm going to head off to the school and get ready." I said as I gave my parents one last hug. "See you there, kiddo." My mom said.

Lucas's POV:

"My boy is graduating today." My dad said as he walked into the room. "What's the matter son?" he asked. "Nothing. It's just I imagined myself graduating with Farkle, Maya and Riley. But I'm not." I said. "This was your decision, Lucas. You just did what you thought was best for you." he said. "I know, dad." I said. After he left, I pulled my phone out and saw the picture that Farkle posted. He was with Riley and Maya and they were all in their caps and gowns. They all looked so happy. Maybe me staying in Texas, really was for the best.

Riley's POV:

"Tonight, we will not be kings of John Adams anymore. We will be kings of the world!" Maya said. "Alright, seniors. The ceremony is about to begin. Go to your section and prepare for the walk." Our principal said. We all took our places and Maya was so far from us and Farkle was a row away from me. If I were to look at the section across from me, I would've seen Lucas. But things happen. I slowly shook it off and waited to walk out.

All of a sudden, I heard music playing and that only meant one thing. It was time for us to walk out, one last time as seniors. One by one, we all walked out of the gymnasium. When I stepped onto the field, everyone was cheering. I started to feel so many emotions come over me. I tried my best to hold it all in because I couldn't believe how fast senior year went by. We all went to our seats and waited for roll call. After that was done, our principal took the stage again. "And now, I present to you the class of 2015!" our principal yelled. We all throw our caps in the air. "We did it!" Maya and Farkle yelled as they ran over to me. We got into a group hug and waited for our families to come. "I can't believe we finally did it!" I said. "Yeah, if only Lucas was here." Farkle said. Maya slapped him in the back of the head. "What was that for?" he asked. "Gee, I don't know." Maya said as she gave him a look. "What it's wrong for me to miss him?" Farkle asked. "No, but Lucas is back where he belongs. He broke our best friend's heart." Maya said. "He's our best friend too." He said. "Yeah, try were." She said.-

"Maya, I know that you still consider Lucas as a best friend. Don't put up a front for Riley." Farkle said. "Riley, I know you miss Lucas. You knew how he felt about you." he said. "I thought I did. But there is no me and Lucas." I said. "Are you kidding me? You and Lucas belong together." he said. "I thought we did. But I guess I was wrong." I said. "Okay you know what, I wasn't supposed to tell you this. But the reason why Lucas never had his moment was because he wanted to propose to you. I know you guys are young. But if it's a love like yours, it doesn't matter. He loves you, Riley and you love him." He said. "How would he even propose to me, if we were didn't date after the whole pressure thing and did he really think that I was going to wait around that long?" I asked. "It's Lucas. He's crazy." Farkle said. "Apparently." I said. "Why don't you talk to him, Riley?" he asked. "It's been a year since we've seen each other and in that time there have been no phone calls, no text messages, nothing. I doubt that he still loves me and I doubt that he still wants to propose." I said. "But he does." Farkle says. "How do you know that?" I asked. "You'll see." He said. Pretty soon, our families had finally found us and we all gave hugs and took pictures. I was trying my best to hide the pain that came back when Farkle brought up Lucas. I mean we just graduated high school. I should be happy instead of heart broken.

The Next Day:

Riley's POV:

My parents were going crazy. From planning my graduation party to planning their wedding, which was in just a couple of weeks. "Cory, a small intimate wedding. Not a big one. Get it glued into your mind." My mom yelled. The wedding planning turned them into monsters. "Topanga, I know that. But it's Justin Timberlake." My dad yelled. "No!" she yelled. "Wow," I said to myself. I took out my phone and starred scrolling through Instagram. I kept scrolling and scrolling until I came across a photo that Lucas posted. He was hanging out with a girl at a baseball game. The caption said: "Hanging out with the best." I guess he did move on and I really did mean nothing to him. After a year of no contact, I knew it was time for me to move on. I couldn't just hope that one day he'll just magically pop up at my door, that's never going to happen.

All of a sudden, there was knock on my door. I walked up to the door to open it. Once I did, I was in shock. "What're you doing here?" I asked. "I need to talk to you." he said. "About?" I asked. "Us." He said. "Charlie, there is no us anymore. We graduated and pretty soon were going to be off to college." I said. "But Riley, I know that we belong together. I know you belong with me." he said as he walked into my house. You're not the only that thinks they know who I belong with. I thought to myself. "I thought that I could be just friends with you. But I can't. Why did you give up on us so quickly?" he asked. "I told you, Charlie. I wasn't happy and I didn't want to lead you on." I said. "It was an honor to have my heart broken by you. But I don't want it to be broken anymore. I want it to be healed and the only one that can heal it is you." he said. "Charlie, every person on this planet has a soulmate. But that's not me. I'm not your soulmate, I know you're going to find someone who makes you happy, and who you make happy. You're not going to have to question how they feel about you all the time. You'll know." I said. "If I'm not your soulmate, then who is?" he asked. "How am I supposed to know?" I asked. "Riley, who do you think your soulmate is?" he asked. "I think it's…Lucas." I said. "Lucas?" he asked.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	14. Chapter 14: Pain

Chapter 14: Pain

 _Previously on "Without Our Love"_

" _Charlie, every person on this planet has a soulmate. But that's not me. I'm not your soulmate, I know you're going to find someone who makes you happy, and who you make happy. You're not going to have to question how they feel about you all the time. You'll know." I said. "If I'm not your soulmate, then who is?" he asked. "How am I supposed to know?" I asked. "Riley, who do you think your soulmate is?" he asked. "I think it's…Lucas." I said. "Lucas?" he asked._

Riley's POV:

"Lucas? The guy who broke your heart multiple of times, the guy who kissed your best friend, lead you on, then broke your heart again after deciding to stay in Texas?" he asked. "Yes." I said. "Why?" he asked. "Because I love him and I forgave him." I said. "That's the only reason?" he asked. "No, he's my soulmate because no matter what I do, no matter what I choose. It's always him. Everything I do, always comes back to him. I shouldn't let him go just because of the mistakes he's made. I should be with him for all that he has done right and I know that one day he's going to come back for me. We can't just throw away that beautiful story we created." I said. "But you told me you threw it away." he said. "Charlie, I was hurt and angry. I didn't have control over what I was saying. I said some things to Lucas that probably crushed him." I said. "But all you guys do is damage one another." He said. "It's not our intention too. My love for Lucas is so strong that no matter how many times he has unintentionally broken my heart, I always go running back because I love him. I go running back because of everything he's done right. He's protected me, he's been there for me, and most of all he accepted me for who I am and I can't let someone like that go." I said. "And if he doesn't come back?" Charlie asked. "Then I guess he'll just be the guy that I'll always love. He's the guy I'll always have in my heart." I said.

Topanga's POV:

"You bought a new wedding dress and you didn't tell me?" Cory asked. "Do you have a problem with that?" I snapped. "No dear." He said as he sat down on the bed. "Good." I said. "Can I at least see how it looks like?" he asked. "Yeah, in two days." I said. "Our vow renewal is in two days?" He asked. "Wedding. Our wedding is in two days." I said as I patted his head. "No, I said we were going to renew our vows and you said yes." He said. "Vow renewal, wedding whatever." I said. "Bridezilla." He mumbled. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked. "Nothing dear." He said with hesitation. I gave him a sweet smile. "Then if that's the case then you really should consider giving me another chance." I heard someone say. "Cory, does that voice sound familiar to you?" I asked. "Lucas." he said as he ran downstairs.

"Oh, what do we have here?" he asked as we went downstairs to find Riley and Charlie talking. "We were just talking dad." Riley said. "Good to see you, Lucas." he said. "It's Charlie." Charlie said. "I don't care." Cory said. "So what were you guys talking about?" I asked. "Nothing." Riley said. "We were talking about Lucas." he said. "Oh, so you know what happened with Lucas?" I asked. "Yeah." Charlie said. "Interesting." I said as I gave Riley a look. "So she talked to you about how she was feeling?" I asked. "Um, pretty much." he said. "Super." I said. "Mom, I had to tell him for a reason." She said. "What's the reason?" I asked. "So that he can move on." She said. "So, you told Charlie about Lucas so that he can move on? Or did you really tell him about Lucas because you had no one to talk to about him." I said. "Mom, why are you being so harsh?" she asked. "Because it hurts, you tell us everything. Well, you used to tell us everything but ever since you got back from Texas, you've been shutting us out. You haven't been telling us what really happened in Texas." I said. "Because talking about it is painful for me, mom. Why can't you understand that? Lucas broke my heart once again but this time it was different. Not only did he break my heart, he broke our trust, he burned the hopes I had for us and when I got back to New York, I wanted to leave everything that happened in Texas behind me. But I haven't been able to. Because you've been constantly asking me about him, you've been bringing him up so much that it pains me. I don't want to feel pain and talking about Lucas and what he did brings me pain and I don't want to be in pain anymore. I just want to be happy." She said.

"Riley, keeping it bottled up isn't going to help you." I said. "I haven't been keeping it bottled in mom. I've talked to Maya, Farkle and Josh about it because they were there. They saw what happened. They saw how much pain I was in. So if I tell you I don't want to talk about it, just respect the fact that I don't want to talk about it!" she yelled. "But Riley, we are your parents. We are here for you. Do you know how much pain you have caused us for not telling us?" I asked. "Oh, so now you're putting the blame on me? This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you." she said as she stormed off to her room. "That's not what I meant." I yelled. "Charlie, I think it's best if you leave." Cory said. "Okay." He said as he walked out of the room.

Riley's POV:

I was sitting at my bay window and Maya climbed through. "Hey, what's the matter?" she asked. "Like you don't know." I said. "You miss Lucas?" she asked. "I miss him so much." I said as I started to tear up. "Riley, missing him is just a part of moving on." She said. "But what if I don't want to move on?" I asked. "Then if he does come back, tell him how you feel." she said. "That's all I ever do, Maya. All I ever do is tell him how I feel." I said. She stayed silent. "I've been pushing away my parents and I don't even know why." I said. "You never told your parents about what happened in Texas?" she asked. "No and I don't want to." I said. "But why?" she asked, "Because I don't want them to go through what they've went through before. Every time my heart breaks, their heart breaks along with me. They don't like seeing my heart broken. I don't want to put them through the pain I'm going through." I said. "Riley, they've been heartbroken because you've been pushing them away. Let them back in." she said. "I will." I said. I put my head on Maya's shoulder and we sat there in silence.

Josh's POV:

"The best man at your service." I said as I walked through the door. "Good. I need you to plan the ultimate bachelor party for me. See I didn't really get to have one because things got complicated. But this is your chance to give me the greatest bachelor party ever." Cory said. "Me? How am I going to pull that off?" I asked. "I know you'll figure something out." He said. "I thought this was going to be an intimate ceremony," I said. "It is. But I still want a bachelor party. Please I beg of you." Cory said. "Fine." I said. "Well, I thought I heard you." Maya said as she walked downstairs. "Hey, beautiful." I said as I walked over to her and gave her a kiss. "Not in my living room!" Cory yelled. Maya and I pulled apart. "Take a step back," he said. I took a step back, "More…More…More…" he said. "I can't go that far anymore. I'm already upstairs." Maya said. "Stay up there." he said. "Matthews, you're insane." Maya said as she came back down and joined my side. "He still needs time to adjust this to this." I said to her. "It's been a year." she said. "Some people take a long time to adjust." I said.

Riley's POV:

"Mom…" I said as I walked into her room. "What is it?" she asked. "I'm sorry." I said as I started to cry. "Oh, honey." She said as she quickly ran over to me and pulled me into a hug. "Why are you apologizing?" she asked. "Because I didn't mean to push you guys away, I just didn't want to hurt you guys." I said as I continued to sob. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Every time I had my heart broken, you guys would feel the pain that I felt and I didn't want you to this time. I know I should've just told you what happened and I'm sorry I didn't." I said. "Riley, your father and I love you very much. We just wanted to make sure that you were okay. We care about you." she said. "I know, but I just didn't want you guys to have to deal with it, I mean you've put up with so many of my heart breaks." I said. "Riley, were your parents. It doesn't matter. We will always be here for you with open arms. I don't want you to think that you can't talk to us about anything. Well, when it comes to that subject, you can just talk to me about it. You might give your dad a heart attack with that subject." She said. "Thank you, mom." I said. "So are we okay?" she asked. "Were better than okay." I said.

 **Get your tissues ready for the next chapter because it will be the last chapter of this story :( so prepare yourselves for chapter 15 xx**


	15. Chapter 15: Wedding Bells and Surprises

Chapter 15: Wedding Bells and Surprises

 **Just a heads up… I don't really know how the whole renewing vows thing works. So just go with it.**

Topanga's POV:

"This is it ladies, I am going to be Mrs. Matthews… Again!" I said as I was getting my hair done. "Mom, there's a problem." Riley said as she walked through the door. "Oh no, what is it?" I asked. "Your bouquet might be a little late." She said. "What?" I asked. "They had a problem with your bouquet and now it might be a little late." She said. "You know what, that's fine. I'll just walk down the aisle bouquet-less." I said trying to remain calm. "Mom, you're shaking." She said. "I'm fine." I said. "Just go get your hair and makeup done sweetie." I said.

Riley's POV:

Today was the day that I get to witness my parents renew their vows, I was happy but at the same time I wasn't. This just made me think of all the times that I pictured me and Lucas getting married. I always pictured me walking down the aisle, and seeing him getting emotional. I've always pictures us having our own family one day. But things didn't really turn out that way. "Riley!" Farkle said as he walked up to me. "Hey, what're you doing here?" I asked. "Oh, I'm running errands for your dad." He said. "Oh I see," I said. "Where you going?" he asked. "I'm about to go get my hair and makeup done. There's a separate room for the bride and bridesmaids but after we get our hair and makeup done we have to help my mom into her dress and accessorize her." I said. "Can you believe your parents are renewing their vows?" he asked. "I can. I sort of knew this was coming because my parents told me all of their stories and how their last wedding turned out. So it's nice to be able to witness this." I said. "Farkle!" I heard my dad yell. "I better get back." He said. "I'll see you out there." I said.

After I finished getting my hair and makeup done, I went to go put on my maid of honor dress. "Wow, you look so beautiful." my mom said. "Thank you, mom. You're the perfect bride." I said. "Thank you honey." She said. "I'm about to be in college and I still don't look like you yet. You know the pow, poom, boom." I said. "Honey, don't try to look like me. Just be who you are and love the body you're in. Every shape and size is beautiful. But people tend to get self-cautious with their bodies because they blame it on the society. You should be proud of how you look." She said, "I know, mom." I said. "Am I ever going to find a love like yours and dads?" I asked. "One day." she said. "I sure hope so." I said.

It was finally time for the ceremony to begin. My dad made his way down the aisle. Then it was mines and Josh's turn to go down the aisle. Then Farkle and Maya. Since it was an intimate ceremony. There was only one maid of honor and one bridesmaid. One best man. One groomsmen. Once we all made it down the aisle, it was now time for my mom to make her way down. I looked over at my dad and his face was beaming. His eyes were shining so bright, he had the biggest smile on his face. Then I looked at my mom and she was glowing. My parents were so in love and I felt so honored to be a part of this moment. When she finally made it over to my dad, I heard him whisper to her, telling her how beautiful she looked. It made me feel warm inside because I knew that one day, just one day I might find a love like theirs.

Topanga's POV:

"Cory, we've come a very long way and I just want to thank you for never giving up on the love we have. For never giving up on me. Together, we raised two beautiful children and I can't thank you enough for that…" I said. * _flashback* "I wasn't sure this day would ever come. But you were. I wasn't so sure that love could survive everything we had put it through. But you were. You were always strong, and always sure and now I know that I want you to stand beside me for the rest of my life. That's what I'm sure of." I said._ "Topanga, I thank God every day for bringing us together. As I said before, you were the only thing that ever made sense to me and as we continue on through this journey of life together. I will never stop loving you. I will never stop protecting you, I will never stop loving the family that we raised. I will always protect you and our kids. _"Um, ever since I was young, I never understood anything about the world and I never understood anything that happened in my life. The only thing that ever made sense to me, was you and how I felt about you. That's all I've ever known. And that's enough. That's enough for me for the rest of my life, Topanga." He said. "Are we going to get married?" he asked. "Yeah we are." I said._ "Cory, do you take Topanga Matthews to be your wife?" the priest asked. "I do." he said. "Topanga, do you take Cory to be your husband?" he asked. "I do." I said. "I now pronounce you husband and wife…again." the priest said.

Riley's POV:

We all started cheering and clapping for my parents. They got married again. As I watched my dad carry my mom down the aisle, it brought tears to my eyes. "Your parents are so cute." Maya said. "I know." I said. We linked arms and walked down the aisle together. "It's reception time!" We heard Josh say. Once we got in, the room was very simple and romantic. I loved it. We all went to go take a seat at our table and we waited for my parents to come out. "This is so crazy. In just a few years, we'll be at each other's weddings." Maya said. "I know, I still can't believe you're going to be my aunt." I said. "As weird as it may seem, you will always be my best friend before my niece." She said. "So, where's Smackle?" Josh asked. "She is out of town. So she couldn't make it tonight. She's been getting ready for college." He said. "Oh yeah, I never got to ask. Where are you guys going to college?" Josh asked. "I'm going to NYU." Maya said. "I'm going to Penbrook." I said. "What?" Maya asked. "Maya, I told you this a million times." I said. "I thought you were just thinking about it. I thought we were going to go to NYU together." she said. "Maya, we won't be that far from each other." I said. "I know, but I always imagined us being together in college." She said.

"Hey, you'll be with me." Josh said as he put his arm around her. "I guess." She said. "Alright," Eric said as he took the stage. "When Cory and Topanga first got married, they were Mr. and Mrs. Harold Petermen. But now, everyone please welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Matthews." He said. We all clapped as they walked out onto the dance floor. Slow songs started playing and my dad spun my mom around. "They're so in love." Farkle said. "Yeah, I can't wait to get married." Maya said. "Really?" we all said. "Hey, I have a soft side." She said. Once, my parents finished their dance. My grandpa took over and danced with my mom, while my grandma danced with my dad. Josh and Maya walked out to the dance floor and joined them. "This sucks." I said. "Why?" Farkle asked. "Because everyone is so happy in love and I know I'm being dramatic. But Lucas is in Texas and I always thought that it would be us getting married." I said.

"Riley, do you know why I haven't given up on the idea that you and Lucas are going to be together?" he asked. "No." I said. "Because I know that Lucas is going to come back for you." he said. "I'm not so sure and it's like why would he want to propose if we never became diamonds." I said. "Riley, Lucas loves you. He always goes to the end of the earth just to make sure that you're happy. He always puts you before himself and he doesn't care. Because when it comes to you, there are no limits. He would do anything for you. He would even jump off a cliff, if you asked him to. He's your soulmate, Riley. He even told me himself." He said. "He told you I was his soulmate?" I asked. "Yeah, he did. Sometimes voices get inside his head and it makes him do things that he regrets, but the last thing that he would want to do, is hurt you. Now I know he has unintentionally. But you have to talk to him, Riley." Farkle said.

"Riley, come dance with your old man." My dad said as he walked up to me. "Oh, no I'm fine." I said. "Come on, I insist." He said as he held out his hand. "Alright," I said. We walked to the dance floor and started to slow dance. "So, how are you doing?" he asked. "To be honest, I'm not okay dad. I'm trying to put on a brave face for you and mom. But I miss him, dad." I said. "I know you do, and you're hiding it very well." He said. "I just want to feel okay again. It's been a year dad and things still aren't better." I said. "I know, honey. But trust me, things will get better. I promise you." he said. I rested my head on his shoulder while my dad continued to talk. "May I cut in?" I heard someone say. That voice sounded way too familiar. I turned around to find Lucas standing there in tux. A huge smile spread across my face. "I don't believe this." I said. "Good to see you, Charlie." My dad said. We both looked at him. "It's Lucas." he said. "I don't care," my dad said as he walked away.

"Can we talk outside?" he asked. "Sure." I said as we walked out of the church. I saw Farkle, Maya and Josh looking at us with their mouths dropped. "Oh my god." Maya mouthed as we walked passed the,. We went and walked through the beautiful garden. The only thing that we heard was the sound of the mini waterfalls. We stood in front of the pond and he turned to face me.

"Lucas, what're you doing here? I thought you were in Texas." I said as he took both of my hands. "Ever since you left Texas, I tried to live my life without you and I couldn't. Riley, I'm sorry that I decided to stay in Texas. I wasn't thinking straight and my dad got inside my head. I didn't know what was going on with me. But that is no excuse for hurting you. I didn't know what I was doing until I was standing outside in the rain alone. I didn't have you by my side and I thought I would be okay without you. But I'm not." He said. "So you came back just tell me that?" I asked. "No, there's a reason why…" he said. "There's something that I've been wanting to tell you for a long time now and I know that it slipped out but I don't care. I should've told you this a long time ago. But I'm in love with you, Riley Matthews. I've always been in love with you. When you fell onto my lap on the subway, and you gave me that cute little smile of yours. I never thought I seen anyone so cute. But then I got to know you and I realized you're not cute. You're beautiful. You're the most beautiful human being that I know. Everything about you is beautiful and I'm lucky enough to be a presence in your world." he said.

"What're you saying?" I asked. "I'm saying that I don't want you to leave my world again. I don't want to spend a day without you and I won't." he said as he got down on one knee. My eyes grew wide and I covered my mouth. "I don't want to live in this world, if I don't have you by my side. So will you please do me the honor and marry me?" he asked as he pulled out a beautiful diamond ring. "Oh my god, I don't know what to say." I said. "I know that it's sudden but I know that you're my soulmate." He said. I took a deep breath. "Okay, I can't play this cool. Yes, I'll marry you." I said. Lucas got up and put the ring on my finger. I pulled him in for a kiss and he spun me around. "I knew you were coming back for me!" I said. "I told you I was." He said as he put me down.

 **This is the fastest I've ever finished a story. But I hope you guys enjoyed it. Leave your feedback and you can go ahead and check out my other stories. I mean if you want I don't know. it's your decision. Bu t I feel like this is the best one yet. There's more stories in the making. xx**


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